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A  BOY'S  TRIP 

ACROSS  THE  PLAINS, 

BY  LAURA  PRESTON, 

AUTHOR  OF  "YOUTH'S  HISTORY  OF  CALIFORNIA." 


NEW  YORK: 
A.   ROMAN  &  COMPANY,   PUBLISHERS. 

SAN  FRANCISCO: 
417  AND  419  MONTGOMERY  STEEET. 

1868. 


A     * 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1868, 

BY   A.   ROMAN  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
For  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TO 

LOUIS   A1STD    MAEY, 

THE  ELDEST 

Off  A  BEVY  OP  NEPHEWS  AND  NIECES, 
THIS  LITTLE  WORK 


•WITH  THE  HOPE 

THAT  AS  IT  HAS  ALREADY  RECEIVED  THEIR  FAVORABLE  CRITICISM, 

IT  MAY  MEET  THAT  OF  ALL  YOUTHFUL  LOVEBS 

OF  ADVENTURE. 


San  Francisco,  June,  1868. 


BANCROFT  LIBRARY 

A   BOY'S   TRIP 

ACROSS    THE    PLAINS. 


BY    LAURA    PRESTON. 

CHAPTER    I. 

IN  the   village   of  W ,  in   western 

Missouri,  lived  Mrs.  Loring  and  her  son 
Guy,  a  little  boy  about  ten  years  old. 
They  were  very  poor,  for  though  Mr.  Lor- 
ing, during  his  life  time  was  considered 
rich,  and  his  wife  and  child  had  always 
lived  comfortably,  after  his  death,  which 
occurred  when  Guy  was  about  eight  yeaps 
old,  they  found  that  there  were  so  many 
people  to  whom  Mr.  Loring  owed  money, 
that  when  the  debts  were  paid  there  was 


Q  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

but  little  left  for  the  widow  and  her  only 
child.  That  would  not  have  been  so  bad 
had  they  had  friends  able  or  willing  to 
assist  them,  but  Mrs.  Loring  found  that 
most  of  her  friends  had  gone  with  her 
wealth,  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  apt 
to  be  the  case  the  world  over. 

As  I  have  said,  when  Mrs.  Loring  be- 
came a  widow  she  was  both  poor  and 
friendless,  she  was  also  very  delicate.  She 
had  never  worked  in  her  life,  and  although 
she  attempted  to  do  so,  in  order  to  support 
herself  and  little  Guy,  she  found  it  almost 
impossible  to  earn  enough  to  supply  them 
with  food.  She  opened  a  little  school,  but 
could  get  only  a  few  scholars,  and  they 
paid  her  so  little  that  she  was  obliged  also 
to  take  in  sewing.  This  displeased  the 
parents  of-  her  pupils  and  they  took  away 
their  children,  saying  "  she  could  not  do 
two  things  at  once." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  7 

This  happened  early  in  winter  when  they 
needed  money  far  more  than  at  any  other 
season.  But  though  Mrs.  Loring  sewed  a 
great  deal  during  that  long,  dreary  winter, 
she  was  paid  so  little  that  both  young 
Guy  and  herself  often  felt  the  pangs  of 
cold  and  hunger.  Perhaps  they  need  not 
have  done  so,  if  Mrs.  Loring  had  told  the 
village  people  plainly  that  she  was  suffer- 
ing, for  I  am  sure  they  would  have  given 
her  food.  But  she  was  far  too  proud  to 
beg  or  to  allow  her  son  to  do  so.  She  had 
no  objection  that  he  should  work,  for  toil 
is  honorable — but  in  the  winter  there  was 
little  a  boy  of  ten  could  do,  and  although 
Guy  was  very  industrious  it  was  not  often 
he  could  obtain  employment.  So  they 
every  day  grew  poorer,  for  although  they 
had  no  money  their  clothing  and  scanty 
furniture  did  not  know  it,  and  wore  out 


8  A   BOY'S    TKIP 

much  quicker  than  that  of  rich  people 
seems  to  do. 

Yet  through  all  the  trials  of  the  long 
winter  Mrs.  Loring  did  not  despair;  she 
had  faith  to  believe  that  God  was  bringing 
her  sorrows  upon  her  for  the  best,  and 
would  remove  them  in  his  own  good  time. 
This,  she  would  often  say  to  Guy  when 
she  saw  him  look  sad,  and  he  would  glance 
up  brightly  with  the  reply,  "  I  am  sure 
it  is  for  the  best,  mother.  You  have  al- 
ways been  so  good  I  am  sure  God  will 
not  let  you  suffer  long.  I  think  we  shall 
do  very  well  when  the  Spring  comes.  We 
shall  not  need  a  fire  then,  or  suffer  for  the 
want  of  warm  clothing  and  I  shall  be  able 
to  go  out  in  the  fields  to  work,  and  shall 
earn  so  much  money  that  you  will  not 
have  to  sew  so  much,  and  get  that  horrid 
pain  in  your  chest." 

But  when  the  Spring  came  Guy  did  not 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  9 

find  it  so  easy  to  get  work  as  he  had  fan- 
cied it  would  be,  for  there  were  a  great 
many  strong,  rough  boys  that  would  do 
,  twice  as  much  work  in  the  day  as  one  who 
had  never  been  used  to  work,  and-  the 
farmers  would  employ  them,  of  course.  So 
poor  Guy  grew  almost  disheartened,  and 
his  mother  with  privation  and  anxiety,  fell 
very  sick. 

Although  afraid  she  would  die  she 
would  not  allow  Guy  to  call  any  of  the 
village  people  in,  for  she  felt  that  they  had 
treated  her  very  unkindly  and  could  not 
bear  that  they  should  see  how  very  poor 
she  was.  She  however  told  Guy  he  could 
go  for  a  doctor,  and  he  did  so,  calling  in 
one  that  he  had  heard  often  visited  the  poor 
and  charged  them  nothing. 

This  good  man  whose  name  was  Lang- 
ley,  went  to  Mrs.  Loring's,  and  soon  saw 
both  how  indigent  and  how  ill  the  poor 


10  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

woman  was.  He  was  very  kind  and  gave 
her  medicines  and  such  food  as  she  could 
take,  although  it  hurt  her  pride  most  bit- 
terly to  accept  them.  He  also  gave  Guy  . 
some  work  to  do,  and  he  was  beginning 
to  hope  that  his  mother  was  getting  well, 
and  that  better  days  were  coming,  when 
going  home  one  evening  from  his  work  he 
found  his  mother  crying  most  bitterly.  He 
was  in  great  distress  at  this,  and  begged 
her  to  tell  him  what  had  happened.  At 
first  she  refused  to  do  so,  but  at  last 
said : — 

"  Perhaps,  Gruy,  it  is  best  for  me  to  tell 
you  all,  for  if  trouble  must  come,  it  is  best 
to  be  prepared  for  it.  Sit  here  on  the  bed 
beside  me,  and  I  will  try  to  tell  you :" 

She  then  told  him  that  Doctor  Langley 
had  been  there  that  afternoon,  and  had 
told  her  very  gently,  but  firmly,  that  she 
was  in  a  consumption  and  would  die. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  H 

"Unless,"  she  added,  "I  could  leave  this 
part  of  the  country.  With  an  entire 
change  of  food  and  air,  he  told  me  that  I 
might  live  many  years.  But  you  know, 
my  dear  boy,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
have  that,  so  I  must  make  up  my  mind  to 
die.  That  would  not  be  so  hard  to  do  if 
it  were  not  for  leaving  you  alone  in  this 
uncharitable  world." 

Poor  Mrs.  Loring  who  had  been  vainly 
striving  to  suppress  her  emotions,  burst 
into  tears,  and  Guy  who  was  dreadfully 
shocked  and  alarmed,  cried  with  her.  It 
seemed  so  dreadful  to  him  that  his  mother 
should  die  when  a  change  of  air  and  free- 
dom from  anxiety  might  save  her.  He 
thought  of  it  very  sadly  for  many  days,  but 
could  see  no  way  of  saving  his  mother. 
He  watched  her  very  closely,  and  although 
she  seemed  to  gain  a  little  strength  as  the 
clays  grew  warmer,  and  even  sat  up,  and 


12  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

tried  to  sew,  lie  was  not  deceived  into 
thinking  she  would  get  well,  for  the  doc- 
tor had  told  him  she  never  would,  though 
for  the  summer  she  might  appear  quite 
strong. 

He  was  walking  slowly  and  sadly 
through  the  street  one  day,  thinking  of 
this,  when  he  heard  two  gentlemen  who 
were  walking  before  him,  speak  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

"  Is  it  true,"  said  one,  "  that  Harwood  is 
going  there  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  other,  "  he  thinks  he  can 
"better  his  condition  by  doing  so." 

"Do  you  know  what  steamer  he  will 
leave  on  ?"  asked  the  first  speaker. 

"  He  is  not  going  by  steamer,"'  replied 
the  second,  "  as  Aggie  is  quite  delicate,  he 
has  decided  to  go  across  the  plains." 

"  Ah  !  indeed.     When  do  they  start  2" 

"  As   soon  as   possible.     Mrs.  Harwood 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  13 

told  ine  to-day,  that  the  chief  thing  they 
were  waiting  for,  was  a  servant.  Aggie 
needs  so  much  of  her  care  that  she  must 
have  a  nurse  for  the  baby,  and  she  says  it 
seems  impossible  to  induce  a  suitable 
person  to  go.  Of  course  she  doesn't  want 
a  coarse,  uneducated  servant,  but  some  one 
she  can  trust,  and  who  will  also  be  a 
companion  for  herself  during  the  long 
journey." 

The  gentlemen  passed  on,  and  Guy 
heard  no  more,  but  he  stood  quite  still  in 
the  street,  and  with  a  throbbing  heart, 
thought,  "  Oh  !  if  my  mother  could  go 
across  the  plains,  it  would  cure  her.  Oh ! 
if  Mrs.  Harwood  would  but  take  her  as  a 
nurse.  I  know  she  is  weak,  but  she  could 
take  care  of  a  little  baby  on  the  plains 
much  better  than  she  can  bend  over  that 
hard  sewing  here,  and  besides  I  could  help 
her.  Oh !  if  Mrs.  Harwood  would  only 


14  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

take   her.     I'll   find  out  where   she  lives, 
and  ask  her  to  do  so." 

He  had  gained  the  desired  information, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  Mrs.  Harwood's 
house  before  he  remembered  that  his  mo- 
ther might  not  consent  to  go  if  Mrs.  Har- 
wood  was  willing  to  take  her.  He  knew 
she  was  very  proud,  and  had  been  a  rich 
lady  herself  once,  and  would  probably 
shrink  in  horror  from  becoming  a  servant. 
His  own  pride  for  a  moment  revolted 
against  it,  but  his  good  sense  came  to  his 
aid,  and  told  him  it  was  better  to  be  a 
servant  than  die.  He  went  on  a  little 
farther,  and  then  questioned  himself  whe- 
ther it  would  not  be  better  to  go  first  and 
tell  his  mother  about  it,  and  ask  her  con- 
sent to  speak  to  Mrs.  Harwood.  But  it 
was  a  long  way  back,  and  as  he  greatly 
feared  his  mother  would  not  allow  him  to 
come,  and  would  probably  be  much  hurt 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  15 

at  his  suggesting  such  a  thing,  he  deter- 
mined to  act  for  once  without  her  knowl- 
edge, and  without  further  reflection  walked 
boldly  up  to  Mrs.  Harwood's  door.  It  was 
open,  and  when  he  knocked  some  one  called 
to  him  to  come  in. 

He  did  so,  although  for  a  moment  he 
felt  inclined  to  run  away.  There  was  a 
lady  in  the  room,  ancf  four  children — two 
large  boys,  a  delicate  looking  girl  about 
five  years  old,  and  a  baby  boy  who  was 
sitting  on  the  floor  playing  with  a  kitten, 
but  who  stopped  and  stared  at  Guy  as  he 
entered. 

The  other  children  did  the  same,  and 
Guy  was  beginning  to  feel  very  timid  and 
uncomfortable,  when  the  lady  asked  who 
he  wished  to  see. 

He  told  her  Mrs.  Harwood,  and  the 
eldest  boy  said,  "  That's  ma's  name,  isn't 
it,  ma  ?  What  do  you  want  of  ma  ?  say  !" 


16  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

Guy  said  nothing  to  the  rude  boy,  "but 
told  Mrs.  Harwood  what  he  had  heard  on 
the  street. 

"It  is  true,"  she  said  kindly,  "I  do 
want  a  nurse.  Has  some  one  sent  you 
here  to  apply  for  the  place  ?" 

"No,  ma'am,"  he  replied,  "no  one  sent 
me,  but — but — I  came — of  myself — be- 
cause— I  thought — my — mother — might 
— perhaps  suit  you." 

"  Why,  that  is  a  strange  thing  for  a  lit- 
tle boy  to  do  !"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Harwood. 

"Hullo,  Gus,"  cried  the  boy  that  had 
before  spoken,  "  here's  a  friend  of  mine  ; 
guess  he's  the  original  Young  America, 
'stead  of  me !" 

"  George,  be  silent,"  said  his  mother, 
very  sternly.  u  Now,  child,"  she  contin- 
ued, turning  again  to  Guy,  "  you  may  tell 
me  how  you  ever  thought  of  doing  so 
strange  a  thing  as  applying  for  a  place  for 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  17 

your  mother,  unless  she  told  you  to  do  so. 
Is  she  unkind  to  you  ?  Do  you  want  her 
to  leave  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  no,  she  is  very,  very  kind,"  said 
Guy,  earnestly,  "  and  I  wouldn't  be  parted 
from  her  for  the  world."  He  then  forgot 
all  his  fears,  and  eagerly  told  the  lady 
how  sick  his  mother  had  been,  and  how 
sure  he  was  that  the  trip  across  the  plains 
would  cure  her,  and,  above  all,  told  how 
good  and  kind  she  was ;  "  she  nursed  me," 
he  concluded,  very  earnestly,  "and  you 
see  what  a  big  boy  I  am !" 

Mrs.  Harwood  smiled  so  kindly  that  he 
was  almost  certain  she  would  take  his 
mother ;  but  his  heart  fell,  when  she  said : 
"  I  am  very  sorry  that  your  mother  is  sick, 
but  I  don't  think  I  can  take  her  with  me ; 
and  besides,  Mr.  Harwood  would  not  like 
to  have  another  boy  to  take  care  of." 

"But  I  will  take  care  of  myself,"  cried 


18  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

Guy,  "and  help  a  great  deal  about  the 
wagons.  Oh,  ma'am,  if  you  would  only 
take  me,  I  would  light  the  fires  when  you 
stopped  to  camp,  and  get  water,  and  do  a 
great  many  things,  and  my  mother  would 
do  a  great  deal  too." 

Mrs.  Harwood  shook  her  head,  and  poor 
Guy  felt  so  downcast  that  he  was  greatly 
inclined  to  cry.  The  boys  laughed,  but 
the  little  girl  looked  very  sorry,  and  said 
to  him : 

"  Don't  look  so  sad ;  perhaps  mamma 
will  yet  take  your  mother,  and  I  will  take 
you.  I  want  you  to  go.  You  look  good 
and  kind,  and  wouldn't  let  George  tease  me." 

"That  I  wouldn't,"  said  Guy,  looking 
pityingly  upon  the  frail  little  creature,  and 
wondering  how  any  one  could  think  of 
being  unkind  to  her. 

"  What  is  your  name  ?"  asked  the  little 
one. 


ACEOSS    THE    PLAINS.  19 

"Guy,"  he  replied,  and  the  boys  burst 
into  a  laugh. 

"  Oh,  let  us  take  him  with  us,  ma," 
cried  George,  "it  would  be  such  capital 
fun  to  have  a  '  guy '  with  us  all  the  time, 
to  make  us  laugh.  Oh,  ma,  do  let  him 
go." 

"Yes,  mamma,  do  let  him  go,"  said  lit- 
tle Aggie,  taking  her  brother's  petition 
quite  in  earnest.  "  I  am  sure  he  could  tell 
me  lots  of  pretty  stories,  and  you  wouldn't 
have  to  tell  me  '  Bluebeard'  and  ' Cinder- 
ella,' until  you  were  tired  of  telling,  and 
I  of  hearing  them." 

Now  Mrs.  Harwood  was  very  fond  of 
her  children,  and  always  liked  to  indulge 
them,  if  she  possibly  could,  especially  her 
little,  delicate  Agnes.  She  thought  to  her- 
self, as  she  saw  them  together,  that  he 
might,  in  reality,  be  very  useful  during 
the  trip,  especially  as  Agnes  had  taken  so 


20  A  BOY'S  TRIP 

great  a  fancy  to  him ;  so  she  decided,  in- 
stead of  sending  him  away,  as  she  had  first 
intended,  to  keep  him  a  short  time,  and  if 
he  proved  as  good  a  boy  as  he  appeared, 
to  go  with  him  to  his  mother  and  see  what 
she  could  do  for  her.  Accordingly,,  she 
told  Guy  to  stay  with  the  children  for  an 
hour,  while  she  thought  of  the  matter. 
He  did  so,  and  as  she  watched  him  closely, 
she  saw,  with  surprise,  that  he  amused 
Agnes  by  his  lively  stories,  the  baby  by 
his  antics,  and  was  successful  not  only  in 
preventing  Gus  and  George  from  quarrel- 
ing, but  in  keeping  friendly  with  them 
himself. 

"This  boy  is  very  amiable  and  intelli- 
gent," she  said  to  herself,  "  and  as  he  loves 
her  so  well,  it  is  likely  his  mother  has  the 
same  good  qualities.  I  will  go  around  to 
see  her,  and  if  she  is  well  enough  to 
travel,  and  is  the  sort  of  person  I  imagine, 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  21 

I    will    certainly  try  to   take    her  with 


me." 


She  sent  Guy  home  with  a  promise  to 
that  effect,  and  in  great  delight  he  rushed 
into  the  house,  and  told  his  mother  what 
he  had  done.  At  first  she  was  quite 
angry,  and  Guy  felt  very  wretchedly  over 
his  impulsive  conduct ;  but  when  he  told 
her  how  kind  the  lady  was,  and  how  light 
her  duties  would  probably  be,  she  felt 
almost  as  anxious  as  Guy  himself,  that 
Mrs.  Harwood  should  find  her  strong  and 
agreeable  enough  to  take  the  place. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harwood  came  the  next 
day,  and  were  much  pleased  with  Mrs. 
Loring,  and  perhaps  more  so  with  Guy, 
though  they  did  not  say  so.  The  doctor 
came  in  while  they  were  there,  and  was 
delighted  with  the  project,  assuring  Mrs. 
Loring  that  the  trip  would  greatly  benefit 
her,  and  privately  telling  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


22  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

Harwood  what  a  good  woman  she  was, 
and  how  willing  she  was  to  do  any  thing 
honorable  for  the  support  of  herself  and 
her  little  boy.  So  they  decided  to  take 
her. 

"We  will  give  you  ten  dollars  a 
month,"  said  they,  "so  you  will  not  be 
quite  penniless  when  you  get  to  Cali- 
fornia." 

Mrs.  Loring  thanked  them  most  hearti- 
ly, and  Guy  felt  as  if  all  the  riches  of 
the  world  had  been  showered  down  upon 
them. 

"You  look  like  an  energetic  little  fel- 
low," said  Mr.  Harwood  to  Guy,  as  they 
were  going  away,  "and  I  hope  you  will 
contimie  to  be  one,  else  I  shall  leave  you 
on  the  plains.  Remember,  I'll  have  no 
laggards  in  my  train." 

Guy  promised  most  earnestly  to  be  as 
alert  and  industrious  as  could  be  desired, 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  23 

and  full  of  good  intentions  and  delightful 
hopes,  went  back  to  his  mother  to  talk  of 
what  might  happen  during  their  TRIP 

ACROSS   THE   PLAINS. 


24  A    BOY'S    TRIP 


CHAPTEE  II. 

How  quickly  the  next  two  weeks  of 
Guy  Loring's  life  flew  by.  He  was  busy 
and  therefore  Lad  no  time  to  notice  how 
often  his  mother  sighed  deeply  when  he 
talked  of  the  free,  joyous  life  they  should 
lead  on  the  plains.  There  seemed  to  her 
little  prospect  of  freedom  or  pleasure  in 
becoming  a  servant ;  yet  she  said  but  little 
about  it  to  Guy  as  she  did  not  wish  to 
dampen  the  ardor  of  his  feelings,  fearing 
that  the  stern  reality  of  an  emigrant's  life 
would  soon  throw  a  cloud  over  his  blissful 
hopes.  Even  Guy  himself  sometimes  felt 
half  inclined  to  repent  his  impulsiveness, 
for  George  Harwood  constantly  reminded 
him  of  it  by  calling  him  "  Young  America  " 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  25 

and  asking  him  if  lie  had  no  other  ser- 
vants to  hire  out. 

Guy  bore  all  these  taunts  very  quietly, 
and  even  laughed  at  them,  and  made  him- 
self so  useful  and  agreeable  to  every  one, 
that  on  the  morning  of  the  start  from 

W ,  Mr.  Harwood  was  heard  to  say 

he  would  as  soon  be  without  one  of  his 
best  men  as  little  Guy  Loring. 

It  was  a  beautiful  morning  in  May, 
1855,  upon  which  Mr.  Harwood's  train  left 

"W .  Guy  was  amazed  at  the  number 

of  people,  of  horses  and  wagons,  and  at 
the  preparations  that  had  been  made  for 
the  journey.  Besides  Mr.  Harwood's  family 
there  was  that  of  his  cousin,  Mr.  Frazer ;  five 
young  men  from  St.  Louis,  and  another  with 

his  two  sisters  from  W .  Guy  could  not 

but  wonder  that  so  many  people  should 
travel  together,  for  he  thought  it  would 
have  been  much  pleasanter  for.  each  family 


26  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

to  be  alone,  until  lie  heard  that  there  were 
a  great  many  Indians  upon  the  plains  who 
often  robbed,  and  sometimes  murdered 
small  parties  of  travelers. 

As  the  long  train  of  wagons  and  cattle 
moved  along  the  narrow  streets  of  the 
quiet  village,  Guy  thought  of  all  he  had 
read  of  the  caravans  that  used  to  cross  the 
desert  sands  of  Arabia.  "Doesn't  it  re- 
mind you  of  them  T  he  said,  after  mention- 
ing his  thoughts  to  George  Harwood  who 
was  standing  near. 

u  Not  a  bit "  he  replied  with  a  laugh. 
"  Those  great,  strong,  covered  wagons  don't 
look  much  like  the  queer  old  caravans  did 
I  guess,  and  neither  the  mules  or  oxen  are 
like  camels,  besides  the  drivers  haven't 
any  turbans  on  their  heads,  and  the  people 
altogether  look  much  more  like  Christians 
than  Arabs." 

Guy  was  quite  abashed,  and  not  daring 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  27 

to  make  any  other  comparisons,  asked  Gus 
to  tell  him  the  name  of  the  owner  of  each 
wagon  as  it  passed. 

"  The  first  was  father's,"  he  answered 
readily,  "  the  next  two  cousin  James 
Frazer's.  The  next  one  belongs  to  Wil- 
•  liana  Graham,  and  his  two  sisters,  the  next 
two  to  the  young  men  from  St.  Louis,  and 
the  other  six  are  basr^a^e  wagons." 

oo    o  o 

Guy  could  ask  nothing  more  as  Mr.  Har- 
wood  called  to  him  to  help  them  in  driving 
some  unruly  oxen  that  were  in  the  rear  of 
the  train.  Next  he  was  ordered  to  run 
back  to  the  village  for  some  article  that  had 
been  forgotten,  next  to  carry  water  to  the 
teamsters,  then  to  run  with  messages  from 
one  person  to  another  until  he  was  so 
tired,  he  thoroughly  envied  George  and  Gus 
their  comfortable  seats  in  one  of  the  bag- 
gage wagons,  and  was  delighted  at  last  to 
hear  the  signal  to  halt. 


28  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

Although  they  had  been  traveling  all 
day  they  were  but  a  few  miles  from  the 
village,  and  the  people  in  spite  of  the 
wearisome  labors  of  the  day  scarcely  realized 
that  they  had  begun  a  long  and  perilous 
journey.  To  most  of  them  it  seemed  like 
a  picnic  party,  but  to  poor  little  Guy,  it 
seemed  a  very  tiresome  one  as  he  assisted 
in  taking  a  small  cooking-stove  from  Mr. 
Harwood's  baggage  wagon.  As  soon  as  it 
was  set  up,  in  the  open  air,  at  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  wagons,  he  was  ordered  to 
make  a  fire.  There  was  a  quantity  of  dry 
wood  at  hand,  and  soon  he  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  a  cheerful  blaze.  Asking 
Gus  to  take  care  that  it  did  not  go  out,  he 
took  a  kettle  from  the  wagon  and  went  to 
the  spring  for  water. 

Every  person  was  too  busy  to  notice 
whether  Gus  watched  the  fire  or  not.  Some 
were  building  fires  for  themselves,  some 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  29 

unhitching  the  horses  from  the  traces,  un- 
yoking the  oxen,  and  giving  them  water 
and  feed.  Guy  thought  he  had  never  be- 
held so  busy  a  scene  as  he  came  back  with 
the  water,  hoping  that  his  fire  was  burn- 
ing brightly.  Alas !  not  a  spark  was  to 
be  seen,  Gus  had  gone  with  George  to  see 
the  cows  milked,  and  poor  Guy  had  to 
build  the  fire  over  again.  Although  he 
was  very  tired  he  would  have  gone  to 
work  cheerfully  enough,  had  not  Mrs.  Har- 
wood,  who  was  wishing  to  warm  some 
milk  for  the  baby  reprimanded  him  severely 
for  his  negligence.  He  thought  the  fire 
would  never  burn,  and  was  almost  ready 
to  cry  with  vexation  and  fatigue.  Indeed 
two  great  tears  did  gather  in  his  eyes,  and 
roll  slowly  over  his  cheeks.  He  tried  to 
wipe  them  away,  but  was  not  quick  enough 
to  prevent  George  Harwood  who  had  re- 
turned from  milking,  from  seeing  them. 


30  A  BOY'S  TRIP. 

"  Hullo  !"  he  cried,  catching  Guy  by  the 
ears  and  holding  back  his  head  that  every- 
body might  see  his  face,  "  here  is  '  Young 
America'  boo-hoo-ing,  making  a  reg'lar 
4  guy'  of  himself  sure  enough.  Has  some- 
body stepped  on  his  poor  'ittle  toe  ?"  he 
added  with  mock  tenderness,  as  if  h.e  was 
talking  to  a  little  child;  "  never  mind,  hold 
up  your  head,  or  you'll  put  the  fire  out 
with  your  tears;  just  see  how  they  make  it 
fizzle :  why,  how  salt  they  must  be  !" 

Guy  had  the  good  sense  neither  to  get 
angry,  or  to  cry,  at  this  raillery,  although  he 
found  it  hard  to  abstain  from  doing  both. 
But  he  remembered  in  time  that  his  mother 
had  told  him  the  only  way  to  silence 
George  was  to  take  no  notice  of  him. 

"  Guy,"  said  Mrs.  Harwood,  who  had 
just  come  from  the  wagon,  with  some  meat 
to  be  cooked  for  supper,  "I  want  you  to 
go  to  your  mo.ther,  and  amuse  Aggie." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  31 

He  went  joyfully  as  lie  had  not  seen  his 
mother  since  morning.  He  uttered  an  ex- 
clamation of  surprise  when  he  entered  the 
was;on  in  which  she  was  seated,  it  was  so 

O  ' 

different  from  what  he  had  imagined  it. 
It  was  covered  with  thick  oil-cloth,  ^which 
was  quite  impervious  to  rain ;  on  the  floor 
was  a  carpet,  over  head  a  curious  sort  of 
rack  that  held  all  manner  of  useful  things, 
guns,  fishing  poles  and  lines,  game  bags, 
baskets  of  fruit,  sewing  materials,  books, 
and  even  glass-ware  and  crockery.  Guy 
thought  he  had  never  seen  so  many  things 
packed  in  so  small  a  space.  There  were 
at  the  rear  of  the  wagon  and  along  the 
sides,  divans,  or  cushioned  benches,  made 
of  pine  boxes  covered  with  cloth  and  pad- 
ded, so  that  they  made  very  comfortable 
seats  or  beds.  As  Guy  saw  no  sheets  or 
blankets  upon  the  divans,  he  was  at  a  loss 
to  know  how  the  sleepers  would  keep 


32  A  BOY'S  TRIP. 

warm,  until  his  mother  raised  the  cushioned 
lid  of  one  of  the  boxes,  and  showed  him  a 
quantity  of  coverlets  and  blankets,  packed 
tightly  therein. 

There  was  a  large,  round  lamp  suspend- 
ed from  the  center  of  the  wagon,  and  as 
Guy  looked  at  his  mother's  cheerful  sur- 
roundings he  could  not  but  wonder  that 
she  sighed  when  he  spoke  of  the  dark, 
lonesome  lodgings  they  had  left,  until  he 
suddenly  remembered  that  she  had  been 
nursing  the  heavy,  fretful  baby,  and  trying 
to  amuse  Aggie  all  the  day. 

Poor  little  Aggie  was  looking  very  sad, 
and  often  said  she  was  very  tired  of  the 
dull  wagon,  and  was  cold,  too.  Guy  told 
her  of  the  bright  camp-fires  that  were 
burning  beside  the  wagons,  and  asked  her 
to  go  out  with  him  to  see  them,  for 
although  he  was  very  tired  and  would 
gladly  have  rested  in  the  wagon,  he  was 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  33 

willing  to  weary  himself  much  more  if  he 
could  do  anything  to  please  the  sickly 
little  girl. 

"Oh  I  should  like  to  go  very  much," 
cried  Aggie  eagerly,  "  Go  and  ask  ma  if  I 
can  !  It  will  be  such  fun  to  see  the  fires 
burning  and  all  the  people  standing  around 
them." 

Mrs.  Harwood  was  willing  for  Guy  to 
take  Aggie  out,  if  he  would  be  careful  of 
her,  and  so  he  went  back  and  told  the 
anxious  little  girl. 

"  Ah  !  but  I  am  afraid  you  won't  take 
care  of  me/'  she  exclaimed  hastily.  "  No 
body  but  mamma  takes  care  of  me.  George 
and  Gus  always  lets  me  fall,  and  then  I 
cry  because  I  am  hurt,  and  then  papa 
whips  them,  and  I  cry  harder  than  ever 
because  they  are  hurt." 

"  But  we  will  have  no  hurting  or  crying 
this  time,"  replied  Guy  as  he  helped  Aggie 


34  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

out  of  the  wagon,  thinking  what  a  tender- 
hearted girl  she  must  be  to  cry  to  see 
George  Harwood  whipped,  he  was  sure 
that  he  should  not, "  for,"  said  Guy  to  him- 
self, "  we  should  never  cry  over  what  we 
think  will  do  people  good." 

How  busy  all  the  people  seemed  to  be 
as  Guy,  with  Aggie  by  his  side  walked 
among  them.  Both  were  greatly  pleased 
at  the  novel  scene  presented  to  their  view. 
Two  cooking  stoves  were  sending  tip  from 
their  black  pipes  thick  spirals  of  smoke, 
while  half  a  dozen  clouds  of  the  same  arose 
from  as  many  fires,  around  which  were 
gathered  men  and  women  busily  engaged 
in  preparing  the  evening  meal.  Tea  and 
coffee  were  steaming,  beefsteaks  broiling, 
slices  of  bacon  sputtering  in  the  frying 
pans,  each  and  every  article  sending  forth 
most  appetizing  odors. 

Aggie   was    anxious    to   see    how   her 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  35 

father's  baggage  wagons  were  arranged 
and  where  they  stood.  They  proved  to 
be  the  very  best  of  the  train,  but  they 
were  so  interested  in  all  they  saw  and 
heard  that  they  did  not  appear  long  in 
reaching  them. 

"  What  a  nice  time  we  shall  have  on  the 
Plains."  exclaimed  Aggie.  "  I  shall  want 
you  to  take  me  out  among  the  wagons 
every  night.  I  never  thought  such  great, 
lumbering  things  could  look  so  pretty.  I 
thought  the  cloth  coverings  so  coarse  and  yel- 
low this  morning,  and  now  by  the  blaze  of 
the  fires  they  appear  like  banks  of  snow." 

So  she  talked  on  until  Guy  had  led  her 
past  the  fires,  the  groups  were  busy  and 
cheerful  people,  the  lowing  cattle  and  the 
tired  horses  and  mules  which  were  quietly 
munching  their  fodder  and  corn,  until  they 
reached  the  baggage  wagons.  In  one  of 
them  they  found  a  lamp  burning,  and  by 


36  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

its  light  they  saw  how  closely  it  was 
packed.  There  were  barrels  of  beef,  pork, 
sugar,  flour,  and  many  other  articles  which 
were  requisite  for  a  long  journey.  There 
were  boxes  too,  of  tea,  coffee,  rice,  crackers 
and  many  other  edibles,  and  in  one  corner, 
quite  apart  from  these  a  number  of  flasks 
of  powder.  There  were  also  several  guns, 
some  spades  and  other  tools,  and  a  great 
many  things  which  Gay  and  Aggie 
thought  useless,  but  proved  very  valuable 
at  a  later  time. 

"  I  wonder  what  papa  brought  so  many 
guns  for  ?"  said  little  Aggie.  "  And  all  the 
others  have  them  too.  I  should  think 
they  would  be  afraid  to  sleep  in  a  wagon 
with  so  many  guns  and  so  much  powder 
in  it." 

"  Men  should  not  be  afraid  of  anything," 
said  Guy  very  bravely,  "  and  at  any  rate 
not  of  guns  and  powder,  for  with  them 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  37 

they  can  guard  their  lives  and  property 
from  the  Indians." 

"  The  Indians !"  cried  Aggie  opening 
her  eyes  very  wide  with  fright  and  sur- 
prise. "  Are  there  Indians  on  the  Plains  ?" 

"  Yes.  But  don't  be  frightened,"  replied 
Guy.  "  They  shall  not  harm  you,  and  per- 
haps we  may  not  see  any." 

"  Oh,  I  hope  we  shan't.  Let  us  go  back 
to  mother,  it  is  getting  dark,  and  I'm  so 
frightened.  Oh,  dear !  Oh,  dear !" 

Aggie's  alarm  rather  amused  Guy,  but 
he  soothed  her  very  kindly  and  told  her  he 
would  take  her  to  her  mother,  and  they 
had  just  left  the  wagon,  when  a  terrible 
figure,  wrapped  in  a  buffalo  robe,  and 
brandishing  in  his  hand  a  small  hatchet, 
jumped  with  an  awful  yell  into  the  path 
before  them. 

Poor  Aggie  caught  Guy's  arm  and 
screaming  with  terror  begged  him  to  save 


38  A    BOY'S  TRIP 

her  from  the  Indian.  For  a  moment  Guy 
himself  was  startled,  then  as  the  monster 
came  nearer  he  jumped  forward,  wrested 
the  hatchet  from  its  grasp,  and  with  bands 
neither  slow  nor  gentle,  tore  the  buffalo 
robe  aside  and  administered  some  hearty 
cuffs  to  the  crest-fallen  George  Harwood. 

"  Let  me  go,"  he  said  piteously.  "  Don't 
you  see  who  I  am  ?  I'll  tell  my  father, 
so  I  will." 

"  You  are  a  fine  Indian,"  said  Guy,  con- 
temptuously, "just  able  to  frighten  little 
girls." 

"  I  can  whip  you,"  exclaimed  George,  as 
he  saw  Guy  was  preparing  to  lead  Aggie 
to  her  mother.  "  Just  come  on  !" 

"No,"  said  Guy,  who  had  already 
proved  the  cowardice  of  his  opponent,  "  I 
ana  quite  willing  always  to  protect  my 
master's  daughter  from  Indians,  but  not  to 
fight  his  sons." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  39 

"  Bravely  spoken  my  little  man,"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Harwood,  who  had  approached 
them  unperceived. 

"  He's  a  coward,"  whimpered  George, 
"he  struck  me  !" 

"  I  saw  all  that  passed,"  replied  Mr. 
Harwood,  "  and  I  wonder  that  he  acted  so 
well.  I  shall  make  him  from  henceforth 
Aggie's  especial  defender,  and  he  can  strike 
whoever  molests  her,  whether  it  be  an 
Indian  or  any  one  else." 

George  walked  sullenly  away,  and  Mr. 
Harwood,  Aggie  and  Guy  turned  toward 
the  camp-fires,  and  passing  three  or  four, 
reached  that  of  their  own  party.  At  some 
little  distance  from  it  was  spread  a  table- 
cloth covered  with  plates,  dishes  of  bread, 
vegetables  and  meat,  cups  of  steaming 
coffee,  and  other  articles.  On  the  grass 
around  this  lowly  table  the  family  were 
seated,  all  cheerful  and  all  by  the  labors  of 


40  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

the  day  blessed  with  an  appetite  that 
rendered  their  first  meal  in  camp  perfectly 
delicious. 

But  for  Guy,  a  dreary  hour  followed  the 
supper,  there  were  dishes  to  wash,  water 
to  fetch,  and  fires  to  pile  high  with  wood. 
Guy  almost  envied  his  mother  the  task  of 
rocking  the  baby  to  sleep,  yet  was  glad  that 
he  was  able  to  do  the  harder  work  which 
would  otherwise  have  fallen  on  her  hands. 

It  was  quite  late  when  all  his  work  was 
done,  and  he  was  able  to  sit  for  a  few  mo- 
ments by  the  camp-fire.  He  had  just  be- 
gun to  tell  Aggie  of  "Jack,  the  Giant 
Killer's"  wonderful  exploits,  when  Mr. 
Harwood  rang  a  large  bell,  and  all  the 
people  left  their  fires  and  congregated 
about  his.  Mr.  Harwood  then  stood  up 
with  a  book  in  his  hand  and  told  them  in 
a  few  words  what  a  long  and  perilous  jour- 
ney they  had  undertaken,  and  asked  them 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  41 

to  join  with  him  in  entreating  God's  bless- 
ing upon  them.  He  then  read  a  short 
chapter  from  the  bible  and  all  knelt  down 
while  he  offered  up  a  prayer  for  guidance 
and  protection. 

Aggie  whispered  to  Guy,  as  she  bade 
him  " good-night,"  that  after  that  prayer 
she  should  not  be  afraid  of  the  Indians, 
and  went  very  contentedly  to  her  mother's 
wagon,  while  Guy  followed  Gus  and  George 
to  the  one  in  which  they  were  to  sleep. 

They  were  all  too  weary  to  talk,  and 
wrapping  their  blankets  around  them  lay 
down,  and  Gus  and  George  were  soon  fast 
asleep.  Guy  lay  awake  some  time,  look- 
ing out  at  the  bright  fires — the  sleeping 
cattle,  the  long  row  of  wagons,  seeing  in 
fancy  far  beyond  the  wide  expanse  of 
prairies,  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  at  last  in  his  peaceful 
sleep,  the  golden  land  of  California. 


42  A   BOY'S    TRIP 


CHAPTEK  III. 

IT  SEEMED  to  Guy  but  a  few  short 
moments  before  he  was  aroused  from  sleep 
by  the  voice  of  Mr.  Harwood,  calling  to 
him  to  light  the  fire  in  the  stove. 

He  started  up,  for  a  moment,  thinking 

himself  in  the  poor  lodging  at  "W ,  and 

wondering  why  his  mother  had  called  him 
so  early.  But  the  sight  of  the  closely 
packed  -wagon,  and  his  sleeping  compan- 
ions, immediately  recalled  to  his  remem- 
brance his  new  position  and  its  many 
duties.  He  hurriedly  left  the  wagon,  but 
as  it  was  still  quite  dark  to  his  sleepy  eyes, 
he  had  to  wait  a  few  moments  and  look 
cautiously  around,  before  he  could  decide 
which  way  to  turn  his  steps. 

The  first  objects  he  saw,  were  the  camp- 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  4.3 

fires,  which  were  smouldering  slowly  away 
as  if  the  gray  dawn  that  was  peeping  over 
the  hills  wras  putting  them  to  shame.  He 
thought  to  himself  "  I  am  the  first  up," 
but  on  going  forward  a  few  steps,  found 
himself  mistaken,  several  of  the  men  were 
moving  briskly  about,  rousing  the  lazy 
horses  and  oxen,  or  building  fires. 

"  I  shall  have  to  be  quick,"  thought  Guy, 
"  or  I  stall  be  the  last  instead  of  the  first !" 
and  he  went  to  work  with  such  ardor  that 
he  had  a  fire  in  the  stove,  and  the  kettle 
boiling  over  it  before  any  one  came  to 
cook  breakfast. 

He  was  glad  to  see  that  his  mother  was 
the  first  to  leave  Mr.  Harwood's  wagon, 
for  he  wanted  to  have  a  chat  with  her 
alone,  but  his  pleasure  was  soon  turned  to 
sorrow  when  he  saw  how  weary  she  look- 
ed. He  feared,  at  first,  that  she  was  ill, 
but  she  told  him  that  the  baby  had  passed 


44:  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

a  restless  niglit  and  kept  her  awake.  Poor 
Mrs.  Loring  could  not  take  up  her  new  life 
as  readily  as  Guy,  and  even  while  she  en- 
couraged him  always  to  look  upon  the 
bright  side,  she  very  often  saw  only  the 
dark  herself. 

But  no  one  could  long  remain  dull  or 
unhappy  that  beautiful  spring  morning. 
The  dawn  grew  brighter  as  the  fires  died 
away,  and  at  last  the  sun  extinguished 
them  altogether  by  the  glory  of  his  pres- 
ence, as  he  rose  above  the  distant  hills. 

Guy  thought  he  had  never  beheld  so 
lovely  a  scene.  There  was  the  busy,  noisy 
camp  before  him,  and  beyond  it  the  calm 
beauty  of  freshly  budding  forests,  stand- 
ing forth  in  bold  relief  from  the  blue  sky 
which  bore  on  its  bosom  the  golden  sphere 
whence  emanate  all  light  and  heat,  God's 
gifts  that  make  our  earth  so  lovely  and  so 
fruitful. 


ACROSS   THE    PLAIN&  45 

Those  were  Guy's  thoughts  as  he  moved 
about,  willingly  assisting  his  mother,  and 
the  two  young  girls  who,  with  their  brother 

had  left  W to  seek  their  fortunes  in 

the  far  "West.  Guy  pitied  them  very  much 
for  they  were  unused  to  work  and  had  at 
that  time  a  great  deal  to  do.  So  when  he 
went  to  the  spring  for  water,  he  brought 
also  a  pailful  for  them,  and  when  he  had  a 
leisure  moment,  he  did  any  little  chores  for 
them  that  he  could.  He  had  not  noticed 
them  much  the  night  before,  but  that 
morning  he  became  quite  well  acquainted 
with  them  ;  discovered  that  the  elder  was 
called  Amy,  and  the  younger  Came,  and 
that  they  were  both  very  pleasant,  and 
apreciatlve  of  all  little  acts  of  kindness. 

Before  the  sun  was  an  hour  high,  the 
breakfast  had  been  partaked  of,  the  camp 
furniture  replaced  in  the  wagons  and  the 
train  put  in  motion. 


46  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

Slowly  and  steadily  the  well-trained 
mules  and  the  patient  oxen  wended  their 
way  towards  the  Missouri  River,  and  so  for 
nearly  two  weeks  the  march  was  kept  up 
with  no  incident  occurring  to  break  its 
monotony,  save  the  daily*  excitement  of 
breaking  camp  at  noon  and  after  a  tiresome 
walk  of  a  dozen  miles  or  more,  building 
the  watch  fires  at  night,  and  talking  over 
the  events  of  the  day. 

I  think  had  it  not  been  for  Aggie,  Guy 
would  often  have  fallen  to  sleep  as  soon  as 
he  joined  the  circle  round  the  fire,  for  he 
was  generally  greatly  wearied  by  the  labors 
of  the  day.  Every  one  found  something 
for  Guy  to  do,  and  as  he  never  shirked  his 
work  as  many  boys  do,  he  found  but  little 
time  for  rest,  and  none  for  play. 

So,  as  I  have  said,  he  was  usually  so 
tired  at  night  that  he  would  certainly 
have  fallen  asleep  as  soon  as  he  gained  a 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  47 

quiet  nook  by  the  fire,  but  for  little 
Aggie,  who  never  failed  to  take  a  seat 
close  beside  him  and  ask  for  a  story.  So 
with  the  little  girl  on  side,  Gus  on  the 
other,  and  George  seated  where  he  could 
hear  without  appearing  to  listen,  Guy 
would  tell  them  all  the  wonderful  tales  he 
had  ever  read,  and  many  beside  that  were 
never  printed  or  even  known  before. 

Those  hours  spent  around  the  glowing 
fires,  were  happy  ones  to  the  children. 
Even  George,  when  he  looked  up  at  the 
countless  stars  looking  down  upon  them 
from  the  vast  expanse  of  heaven,  was 
quieted  and  seldom  annoyed  either  Guy  or 
his  eager  listeners  by  his  ill-timed  jests  or 
practical  jokes. 

"I  wash,"  said  little  Aggie  one  even- 
ing, when  she  was  sitting  by  the  fire 
with  her  curly  head  resting  on  Guy's 
arms,  "  that  you  would  tell  me  where 


48  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

all  the  pretty  sparks  go  when  they  fly 
upward." 

"  Why,  they  die  and  fall  to  the  earth 
again,"  exclaimed  George,  laughing.  • 

"Idontthink  they  do,"  replied  Aggie, 
"I  think  the  fire-flies  catch  them  and  carry 
them  away  under  their  wings." 

"  And  hang  them  for  lamps  in  butter- 
flies' houses,"  suggested  Guy. 

"Oh  yes,"  cried  Aggie,  clapping  her 
hand  in  delight.  "  Do  tell  us  about  them, 
Guy !  I  am  sure  you  can !" 

So  Guy  told  her  about  the  wonderful 
bowers  in  the  centre  of  large  roses  where 
the  butterflies  rest  at  night,  of  the  great 
parlor  in  the  middle  of  all,  whose  wralls 
are  of  the  palest  rose  and  whose  ceiling  is 
upheld  by  pillars  of  gold,  and  of  the  bed 
chambers  on  either  hand  with  their  crimson 
hangings  and  their  atmosphere  of  odors  so 
sweet  that  the  very  butterflies  sometimes 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  4# 

become  intoxicated  with  its  deliciousness, 
and  sleep  until  the  rude  sun  opens  their 
chamber  doors  and  dries  the  dew-drops 
upon  their  wings.  And  he  told  them  too, 
how  the  butterflies  gave  a  ball  one  night. 
All  the  rose  parlors  were  opened  and  at 
each  door  two  fire-flies  stood,  each  with  a 
glowing  spark  of  flame  to  light  the  gay 
revellers  to  the  feast. 

For  a  long  time  they  patiently  stood 
watching  the  dancers,  and  recounting  to 
each  other  the  origin  of  the  tiny  lamps 
they  held. 

"  I,"  said  one,  "caught  the  last  gleam  from 
a  widow's  hearth,  and  left  her  and  her 
children  to  freeze ;  but  I  couldn't  help  that 
for  my  Lady  Golden  Wing  told  me  to 
bring  the  brightest  light  to-night."  . 

"  Yet  you  are  scarcely  seen,"  replied  his 
companion,  "  and  'tis  right  your  flame 
should  be  dull,  for  the  cruelty  you  showed 


50  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

toward  the  poor  widow,  I  caught  my  light 
from  a  rich  man's  fire  and  injured  no  one, 
and  that  is  how  nay  lamp  burns  brighter 
than  yours." 

"At  any  rate  I  have  the  comfort  of 
knowing  mine  is  as  bright  as  that  of  some 
others  here." 

"Nay  even  mine  is  brighter  than  yours," 
cried  a  fly  from  a  neighboring  rose.  "I 
would  scorn  to  get  my  light  as  you  did 
yours.  I  caught  mine  from  the  tip  of  a 
match  with  which  a  little  servant-maid 
wras  lighting  a  fire  for  her  sick  mistress. 
It  was  the  last  match  in  the  house  too,  and 
it  made  me  laugh  till  I  ached  to  hear  how 
mistress  and  maid  groaned  over  my  fan." 

"  You  cannot  say  much  of  my  cruelty 

when  you  think  of  your  own,"  commented 

• 

the  first,  "  nor  need  you  wonder  that  your 
lamp  is  dull.  But  look  at  the  light  at  my 
Lord  Spangle  Down's  door,  it  is  the  most 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  51 

glorious  of  them  all,  and  held  by  poor  little 
Jetty  Back !  Jetty  Back !  Jetty  Back, 
where  did  you  light  your  lamp  to-night?" 

"  I  took  the  spark  from  a  shingle  roof, 
beneath  which  lay  four  little  children 
asleep,"  she  modestly  answered.  "  It  was 
a  fierce,  red  spark,  as  you  still  may  see,  and 
it  threatened  to  burn  the  dry  roof  and  the 
old  walls,  and  the  children  too.  So  I 
caught  it  up  and  bore  it  away,  and  the 
children  sleep  in  safety  while  I  shine 
gloriously  here." 

"  And  so,"  concluded  Guy,  "  a  good  deed 
will  shine,  and  glow,  ages  after  evil  and 
cruel  ones  are  forgotten." 

"That  is  a  pretty  story,"  said  Aggie, 
contentedly,  "and  I  am  going  to  bed  now 
to  dream  all  night  of  the  good  fly,  and  her 
fadeless  lamp.  Good-night,  dear  Guy, 
don't  forget  that  pretty  story,  for  you 
must  tell  it  again  to-morrow." 


52  A    BOY'S    TRIP 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BUT  on  the  morrow  neither  the  story  of 
the  fire-flies  or  any  other  was  told,  for  late 
in  the  afternoon  they  arrived  at  Fort 
Leavenworth,  which  is  situated  on  the 
western  border  of  Missouri,  and  was  then 
the  last  white  settlement  that  travelers  saw 
for  many  hundreds  of  miles. 

All  felt  very  sad  the  next  morning 
when  the  train  proceeded  on  its  way. 
Many  of  them  thought  they  were  leaving 
civilization  and  its  blessings  forever  be- 
hind, and  as  they  looked  toward  the  vast 
prairie  of  the  West  they  remembered  with 
a  shudder  how  many  had  found  a  grave 
beneath  its  tall  grass.  But  there  was  no 
delaying  or  turning  back  then,  and  so 
they  slowly  continued  their  way,  pausing 


ACROSS    THE   PLAINS.  53 

but  once  to  give  a  farewell  cheer  for  the 
flag  that  floated  from  the  fort,  and  to  look 
at  their  rifles  and  say,  "  We  are  *ready  for 
whatever  may  come !" 

To  Guy  it  seemed  impossible  that  any 
one  could  long  remain  sad  in  the  beautiful , 
country  they  were  entering  upon.  As  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach  lay  a  vast  expanse 
of  prairie,  upon  which  the  sunbeams  lay 
like  golden  halo,  making  the  long,  rich 
grass  of  one  uniform  tint  of  pale  green. 
Then  a  gentle  breeze  would  come  and  ruf- 
fle the  surface  of  this  vast  sea  of  vegeta- 
tion, and  immediately  a  hundred  shades, 
varying  from  the  deepest  green  to  the 
lightest  gold,  would  dance  up  and  down 
each  separate  blade,  producing  the  most 
wonderful  chaos  of  colors.  A  great  va- 
riety of  the  most  lovely  and  delicate 
flowers,  too,  nestled  beneath  the  grass,  and 
sent  forth  sweet  odors  to  refresh  the  trav- 


54:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

eler  as  he.  passed.  Guy  gathered  them  by 
handsful  and  gave  them  to  Aggie,  who 
wove  them  into  long  wreaths  which  she 
hung  around  the  wagon,  when  she  declared 
it  looked  like  a  fairy  bower. 

At  midday  they  stopped  to  rest.  The 
mules  and  oxen  were  turned  out  to  graze 
on  the  luxuriant  grass,  and  a  small  party  of 
the  men  rode  a  short  distance  from  camp 
in  'search  of  game.  Guy  would  have 
greatly  liked  to  accompany  them,  but  as 
Mr.  Harwood  did  not  tell  him  to  do  so,  he 
remained  contentedly  behind,  assisting  his 
mother  to  take  care  of  the  baby,  and 
anxiously  wondering  when  she  would 
become  strong  and  well,  for  she  still 
looked  as  pale  and  weak  as  when  they 
left  W .  * 

He  was  speaking  to  his  mother  of  this 
and  hearing  very  thankfully  her  assurance 
that  she  felt  better,  if  she  did  not  look  so, 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  55 

when  Gus  and  George  caine  up  to  him, 
and  rapidly  told  him  that  their  father  had 
gone  to  the  hunt  and  had  left  his  powder 
flask  behind  and  that  their  mother  said  he 

was  to  take  it  to  them. 

<t 
"But  he  is  on   horseback,"   said   Guy, 

"  and  I  should  never  be  able  to  walk  fast 
enough  to  overtake  him.  I'll  go  and  speak 
to  Mrs  Harvvood  about  it.'7 

"  Indeed  you  won't !"  exclamed  George, 
"  she  says  you  are  not  to  bother  her,  but  to 
go  at  once.  You  will  be  sure  to  meet 
papa,  because  he  said  they  would  not  go 
farther  than  that  little  belt  of  cotton-wood 
trees  which  you  see  over  there." 

"  Why,  he  did  not  go  that  way  at  all," 
cried  Guy  in  astonishment.  "  He  left  the 
camp  on  the  other  sidet"  %r 

"  Well,  I  know  that,"  returned  George, 
"  but  they  were  going  toward  that  belt  of 


56  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

trees,  anyway.  Didn't  papa  tell  mamma 
so,  Mrs.  Loring  ?" 

"  Hallo !  where  has  she  gone  to  ?" 

"She  went  into  the  wagon  before  you 
began  to  speak  to  me,"  said  Guy,  not  very 
well  pleased  with  the  cunning  look  in 
George's  face. 

"Oh,  did  she?  All  right !  Here,  take 
the  flask  and  hurry  along,  or  mamma  will 
give  it  to  you  for  lagging  so.  I  wish  I 
could  go  with  you  and  see  the  hunt." 

Guy  was  so  fearful  that  he  would  do  so 
whether  he  had  permission  or  not,  that  he 
hurried  away  without  farther  thought,  and 
was  soon  quite  alone  on  the  great  prairie. 
I  think  he  would  not  have  gone  so  fast 
had  he  heard  George's  exultant  laugh  as  he 
turned  to  Gus  with*  the  remark,  "  Isn't  it 
jolly  he's  gone,  but  if  you  tell  that  I  sent 
him  away,  I'll  break  your  bones." 

Gus    had ,  a   very  high   regard   for  Lis 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  5? 

bones, — perhaps  rather  more  than  for  the 
truth, — for  he  promised  very  readily  to  say 
nothing  of  what  had  passed,  and  indeed 
thought  it  an  excellent  joke,  and  laughed 
heartily. 

Meanwhile  Guy  walked  on  in  the  direc- 
tion George  had  pointed  out  to  him, 
wondering  as  he  forced  his  way  through 
the  tall  grass,  how  Mr.  Harwood  could 
consider  it  enough  of  importance  to  send 
him  with  it.  He  walked  a  long  distance 
without  finding  any  traces  of  Mr.  Harwood 
and  his  party,  and  looking  back  saw  that 
the  wagons  appeared  as  mere  specks  above 
the  grass.  For  a  moment  he  felt  inclined 
to  turn  back,  but  he  remembered  that  his 
mother  had  told  him  always  to  finish  any- 
thing he  undertook  to  accomplish,  and  so 
stepped  briskly  forward  quite  determined 
to  find  Mr.  Harwood  if  it  was  at'all  possi- 
ble to  do  so. 
3* 


58  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

It  was  a  long  time  before  he  looked 
back  again  for  lie  did  not  like  to  be 
tempted  to  return,  and  when  he  did  so  he 
was  startled  to  find  that  the  wagons  had 
entirely  disappeared.  In  great  affright  he 
looked  north,  east,  west  and  south,  but  all 
jn  vain. 

At  first  he  ran  wildly  about,  uttering 
broken  ejaculations  of  alarm,  then  he  sat 
down  and  burst  into  tears,  it  was  so  dread- 
ful to  be  on  that  vast  prairie  alone.  He 
soon  grew  calm  for  his  tears  relieved  his 
overcharged  heart.  He  arose  and  looked 
carefully  around,  and  for  the  first  time 
noticed  that  the  trees  which  had  seemed 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  camp,  looked 
as  far  off  as  ever. 

"  It  is  plain,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  that 
those  trees  are  at  a  great  distance.  Of 
course,  Mr.  Harwood  could  calculate  their 
distance  though  I  could  not,  and  would 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  59 

i 

certainly  never  have  ventured  so  far 
to  hunt.  George  must  have  "been  mis- 
taken." 

Then  he  wondered  that  the  flask  he  had 
so  long  carried  in  his  hand  had  not  op- 
pressed him  by  its  weight.  With  many 
misgivings  he  opened  it,  and  found  that  he. 
had  been  most  basely,  cruelly  deceived. 
The  flask  was  empty. 

I  think  it  is  not  surprising  that  Guy  was 
very  angry,  and  made  some  very  foolish 
vows  as  to  how  he  would  "  serve  George 
out "  if  he  ever  gained  the  camp  again. 
Ah !  yes,  if  he  ever  gained  it !  But  the 
question  was  how  he  was  to  do  so,  for  the 
long  prairie  grass  quite  covered  the  tracks 
he  had  made  and  he  was  uncertain  from 
what  point  he  had  come,  and  there  was 
nothing  in  that  great  solitude  to  indicate 
it. 

Oh,  how  Gfuy  wished  that  the  tall  grass, 


60  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

which  he  had  thought  so  beautiful,  was 
level  with  the  earth,  "Then  I  should  be 
able  to  see  the  wagons,"  he  thought,  "  but 
they  have  now  moved  on  into  some  slight 
hollow,  and  I  may  never  see  them  more." 

Oh  !  how  bitterly  he  reproached  himself 
for  his  foolish  trustfulness  in  George  Har- 
wood,  and  again  for  ever  having  persuaded 
his  mother  to  undertake  such  a  perilous 
journey.  For  even  then  he  thought  more 
of  his  mother's  sorrow  than  his  own  dan- 
ger, saying  again  and  again :  "  I  shall  be 
lost,  and  my  mother's  heart  will  break. 
Oh,  my  dear,  dear  mother  ?" 

u  Well,  well !"  he  exclaimed  aloud,  after 
spending  a  few  moments  in  such  sad  reflec- 
tions, "  it  is  no,  use  for  me  to  stand  here. 
There  is  one  thing  certain,  I  can  meet 
nothing  worse  than  death  on  this  prairie 
if  I  go  back,  and  if  I  stay  here  it  will 
certainly  come  to  me,  so  I  will  try  to  make 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  61 

for  the  wagons,  and  if  I  fail  I  shall  know 
it  is  not  for  the  want  of  energy." 

So  he  forced  his  way  again  through  the 
rank  grass,  this  time  with  his  back  to  the 
belt  of  trees,  though  he  knew  that  they 
were  growing  by  the  side  of  water,  for 
which  he  was  eagerly  wishing,  for  the  sun 
was  very  hot,  and  as  he  had  taken  nothing 
since  morning  he  was  fast  becoming  faint 
with  hunger  and  thirst. 

At  last  the  air  grew  cooler  and  a  slight 
breeze  sprang  up,  but  although  it  refreshed 
Guy's  weary  body,  it  brought  nothing  but 
anguish  to  his  niind,  for  he  knew  that  the 
sun  was  setting. 

In  despair  he  lifted  his  voice  and  halloed 
wildly,  crying  for  help  from  God  and  man, 
but  no  answer  came,  while  still  the  sky 
grew  a  deeper  blue,  the  sun  a  more  glori- 
ous scarlet,  till  at  last  when  it  had  gained 
its  utmost  magnificence,  it  suddenly  drop- 


62  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

ped  beneath  the  prairie,' the  green  grass 
grew  darker  and  darkef,  and  at  last  lay 
like  a  black  pall  around  poor  Guy,  as  he 
stood  alone  in  the  awful  solitude. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  63 


CHAPTER  V. 

For  a  time  poor  Guy  sat  upon  the  ground 
helpless,  and  hopeless,  listening  intently  to 
the  rustling  movements  of  the  numerous 
small  animals,  that  wandered  about  seek- 
ing food ;  fearing  to  move,  lest  he  should 
encounter  a  prairie  wolf,  or  some  other 
ferocious  beast,  and  equally  afraid  to  re- 
main still,  lest  they  should  scent  him  there. 

There  was  but  one  thing%he  could  do, 
he  felt  then,  and  that  was  to  put  his  trust 
in  God,  and  entreat  His  guidance  and  pro- 
tection. So,  in  the  agony  of  his  terror,  he 
prostrated  himself  upon  the  ground,  and 
offered  up  his  petitions.  The  very  act  of 
praying  comforted  him,  and  when  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  he  was  rejoiced  to  see  a  few 
bright  stars  shining  in  the  sky. 


64  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

"  I  think  the  moon  will  rise  in  about  an 
Lour,"  thought  Guy,  looking  eagerly  around, 
with  a  faint  hope  that  she  might  even  then 
be  peering  above  the  horizon ;  and  truly, 
like  a  far  off  flame  of  fire,  she  seemed  to 
hang  above  the  prairie  grass. 

With  great  joy  Guy  waited  for  her  to 
rise  higher,  and  throw  her  glorious  light 
across  the  wild,  but  she  appeared  almost 
motionless ;  and  in  much  amazement  at  the 
singular  phenomenon,  he  involuntarily 
walked  rapidly  toward  the  cause  of  his  sur- 
prise, looking  intently  at  it  still.  Suddenly 
he  paused,  and  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter, 
exclaiming  rapturously ;  "  It  is  no  moon  ; 
it  is  a  camp  fire  !  There !  I  can  count  one, 
two,  three,  of  them,  They  are  the  fires  of 
our  own  camp.  Hurrah !" 

In  his  excitement,  he  ran  eagerly  for- 
ward, shouting  and  laughing,  but  was  sud- 
denly tripped  by  the  thick  grass  and 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  65 

thrown  headlong.  As  he  was  quite  se- 
verely hurt,  he  walked  on  much  more  so- 
berly, but  still  at  a  brisk  pace,  towards 
the  steadily  brightening  fires. 

The  inoon  he  had  so  anxiously  looked 
for,  gave  no  indication  of  her  presence  in 
the  heavens,  and  so  Guy's  progress  was 
much  retarded  for  the  want  of  light,  for 
the  stars  were  often  overwhelmed  by  great 
banks  of  clouds,  and  gave  but  a  feeble  ray 
at  best. 

"  It  is  becoming  very  cold,"  thought 
Guy  as  he  shivered  in  the  rising  wind,  "  I 
fear  there  is  going  to  be  a  storm ;  Oh, 
what  will  become  of  me  if  it  finds  me 
here !" 

Suddenly  he  paused,  thinking  for  a 
moment  that  he  heard  shouting  at  a  dis- 
tance, but  he  listened  for  a  long  time,  and 
heard  no  more,  and  continued  his  walk 
slowly  and  wearily,  quite  unable  to  repress 


66  A    BOY'S    TEIP 

liis  fast  falling  tears.  He  was  so  very 
tired,  so  hungry,  and  so  cold,  it  was  with 
the  utmost  difficulty  he  could  force  his 
way  through  the  coarse  grass.  Very  often 
too  he  was  startled  "by  some  prowling 
animal,  and  thought  with  horror  of  all  the 
tales  he  had  read  of  boys  being  torn  to 
pieces  by  wild  beasts.  He  especially 
remembered  one  he  had  read  in  an  old 
primer,  of  little  Harry  who  was  eaten  by 
lions  for  saying  "  I  won't"  to  his  mother. 
He  was  thankful  to  know,  that  there  were 
no  lions  on  the  prairies,  and  that  he  had 
never  said  "I  won't,"  to  his  mother,  but 
he  very  much  feared  he  had  said  things 
just  as  bad,  and  that  prairie  wolves,  or 
even  a  stray  bear,  might  be  lying  in  wait 
to  devour  him  for  it. 

Just  as  he  had  reached  this  stage  of  his 
reflections,  he  fancied  he  heard  some  an- 
imal in  pursuit  of  him.  Without  pausing 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  6T 

even  for  an  instant  to  listen,  he  set  off  at 
full  speed  toward  the  still  glowing  fires, 
till  his  precipitate  flight  was  arrested  by 
some  obstacle,  over  which  he  fell,  reaching 
the  ground  with  a  shock  that  almost 
stunned  him. 

As  soon  as  he  recovered  his  senses,  he 
attemped  to  rise,  but  to  his  dismay,  found 
that  he  could  not  stand.  A  sudden 
twinge  of  pain  in  his  right  ankle  prostra- 
ted him,  as  quickly  as  if  he  had  been 
shot. 

He  thought  at  first  that  his  leg  was 
broken,  but  after  a  careful  examination, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  his  ankle  was 
sprained,  but  even  a  broken  leg  would 
not  have  been  a  greater  misfortune  then, 
for  he  was  unable  to  walk,  and  was  suffer* 
ing  the  most  excrutiating  pain. 

I  think  no  one  can  imagine  what  poor 
Guy  suffered,  for  the  rest  of  that  long 


68  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

night.  There  he  lay  helpless,  in  sight  of 
the  camp  fires,  but  quite  unable  to  reach 
them  or  to  give  any  indications  of  his 
whereabouts  to  his  friends.  There  he  lay 
dying  with  pain,  and  hunger,  and  cold, 
yet  suffering  more  in  mind,  than  from  all 
of  these  bodily  evils,  because  he  knew  that 
his  mother  must  know  of  his  absence  from 
the  camp,  and  was  wildly  bemoaning  the 
loss  of  her  only  child. 

The  long  wished-for  moon  at  length 
arose,  hours  after  Guy  had  expected  her, 
but  too  soon  he  thought  when  she  made 
her  appearance,  for  the  camp  fires  grew 
dim  beneath  her  rays,  and  he  had  to  strain 
his  aching  eyes  to  see  them  at  all.  But  he 
had  not  long  to  bemoan  her  presence,  and 
to  say,  that  she  hid  the  light  of  home  from 
him,  for  she  soon  plunged  into  a  great 
bank  of  clouds;  a  fearful  blast  of  wind 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  69 

swept  by,  and  Guy  was  drenched  with 
rain. 

Oh,  it  was  terrible,  that  passing  storm ! 
Short  as  it  was,  it  appeared  to  Guy  to  last 
for  hours,  long  after  it  had  passed  over 
him,  he  heard  it  wildly  sweeping  on,  but 
as  it  grew  fainter,  and  fainter,  the  calmness 
that  came  upon  the  night  overpowered 
him,  and  he  fell  into  a  troubled  sleep.  It 
seemed  but  a  short  time  before  he  again 
awoke,  yet  the  grey  dawn  was  struggling 
in  the  east,  and  the  little  birds  were  hop- 
ping from  blade  to  blade  of  the  wet  grass 
twittering  cheerily  as  if  to  thank  God-  for 
the  refreshing  rain. 

Poor  Guy  saw  all  this  as  if  in  a  dream. 
He  fancied  he  had  been  transformed  into 
an  icicle,  and  that  some  one  had  built  a 
fire  at  his  head,  and  was  slowly  melting 
him.  He  had  no  idea  where  he  was,  and 
talked  constantly  to  his  mother,  whom  he 


70  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

fancied  was  beside  Lira,  entreating  her  to 
put  out  the  fire  that  was  consuming  him. 

Suddenly  he  heard  his  name  called,  and 
realizing  his  position,  and  springing  to  his 
feet,  in  spite  of.  his  wounded  limb,  halloed 
loudly,  waving  his  white  handkerchief  and 
signaling  frantically  to  a  horseman  that 
appeared  in  the  distance.  For  a  few  dread- 
ful moments  he  was  unheard,  and  unseen, 
then  a  shout  of  joy,  answered  his  screams, 
and  the  horseman  galloped  rapidly  toward 
him,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  poor  boy 
lay  fainting,  but  saved,  in  the  arms  of 
James  Graham ! 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Guy  knew  no  more  for,  many  hours. 
"When  he  regained  his  senses,  he  found 
himself  in  Mrs.  Harwood's  wagon  lying 
upon  one  of  the  divans.  His  mother  was 
bending  anxiously  over  him,  and  burst 
into  a  flood  of  joyful  tears  when  she  saw 
that  he  recognized  her.  Nothing  could 
exceed  Guy's  joy  at  seeing  her  again 
though  with  traces  of  deep  anxiety  upon 
her  face.  Indeed,  so  delighted  was  he  at 
his  escape  from  death,  that  he  was  inclined 
to  regard  every  one  with  favor !  Even 
George  Harwood,  who  a  few  days  after  his 
return  to  the  camp,  came  to  him,  according 
to  his  father's  instructions,  to  confess  his 
uukindness  and  to  ask  pardon  for  the  pain 
he  had  caused  him. 


72  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  I  just  thought  I  would  send  you  off  on 
a  fool's  errand,"  said  he,  "but  I  never 
thought  you  would  go  so  far,  and  frighten 
us  nearly  to  death,  and  most  kill  yourself. 
I  was  so  scared  when  you  didn't  come  back 
I  didn't  know  what  to  do.  Father  missed 
you,  but  thought  you  were  somewhere 
about  the  wagons,  and  I  dared  not  tell 
him  you  were  not ;  but  Gus  turned  coward 
during  the  afternoon,  and  told  that  I  had 
sent  you  away — and  then  didn't  I  catch  it  ?" 
and  George  grimaced  most  dolefully,  point- 
ing to  poor  Guy's  sprained  ankle,  and  de- 
claring that  the  pain  of  that  was  nothing 
to  what  he  had  had  in  his  back  for  days 
past. 

Mrs.  Loring  came  in  then,  and  sent  him 
away,  as  Guy  had  been  ill  with  fever  ever 
since  his  night's  exposure,  and  could  bear 
but  little  excitement.  It  was  nearly  two 
weeks  before  he  could  rise,  and  they  had 


ACEOSS  THE  PLAINS  '    73 

even  then  to  carry  him  from  place  to  place, 
because  he  could  not  bear  his  weight  upon 
his  wounded  limb.  It  fretted  him  sorely 
when  they  camped  at  night,  to  see  how 
hard  she  must  have  worked  while  he  lay 
ill ;  yet  he  could  but  perceive  that  she 
looked  better  and  stronger  than  she  had 
done  since  his  father's  death,  and  joyfully 
felt  that  the  excitement  and  toil  of  a  jour- 
ney across  the  plains  would  restore  his 
mother  to  health,  whatever  might  be  the 
effect  upon  him. 

How  kind  they  all  were  to  him  during 
the  time  he  was  slowly  regaining  his 
health  and  strength.  Aggie  sat  by  him 
constantly,  in  her  childish  way  telling  him 
of  the  wonders  she  daily  saw,  or  coaxing 
him  to  tell  her  some  pretty  tale.  Mrs. 
Harwood  always  smiled  upon  him  when 
she  passed,  and  Amie  and  Carrie  Graham 
often  asked  him  to  their  wagon,  and  lent 


74  A  BOY'S  TRIP 

him  books,  or  talked  to  him  of  the  home 
they  had  left,  and  that  which  they  hoped 
to  find. 

All  the  men  missed  Guy  so  much,  lie 
had  always  been  so  useful  and  good  na- 
tured.  Mr.  Harwood  daily  said,  that  there 
should  be  a  jubilee  in  camp  when  Guy  got 
well  again.  But  he  recovered  so  gradually 
.  that  he  took  his  old  place  in  the  train  by 
almost  imperceptible  degrees,  and  was  at 
the  end  of  a  month  as  active  as  ever. 

They  were  then  on  the  borders  of  the 
Rio  Platte,  or  Nebraska  River,  in  the 
country  of  the  Pawnee  Indians.  They 
were  about  to  leave  behind  them  the  vast, 
luxuriant  prairie,  and  enter  upon  what 
may  more  properly  be  called  the  plains. 
Guy  was  not  sorry  to  see  the  thick  grass 
become  thinner  and  thinner,  for  he  re- 
membered that  amid  its  clustering  blades 
he  had  nearly  lost  his  life,  and  therefore 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS. 


looked  with  nmcli  complacency  upon  the 
broad,  shallow  river,  along  which  their 
course  lay  ;  the  sandy  loam  beneath  their 
feet,  and  the  sand  hills  that  arose  like 
great  billows  of  earth,  rolling  in  regular 
succession  over  the  level  surface.  George 
and  Gus  thought  the  country  most  dreary 
and  wretched,  and  would  scarcely  believe 
Guy,  when  he  told  them  of  a  desert  called 
Sahara,  that  had  not  even  a  blade  of  grass 
upon  it,  save  an  occasional  oasis,  many 
miles  apart,  and  which  were  often  sought 
for,  by  the  weary  traveler,  as  he  had  him- 
self sought  the  camp,  during  his  terrible 
night  on  the  prairie. 

"It  can't  be  worse  than  this,"  they 
eagerly  contended,  "I  don't  believe  even 
Indians  live  here." 

But  they  were  soon  convinced  to  the 
contrary,  for  a  few  days  afterwards  Guy 
started  them  by  the  exclamation  "see 


76  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

the     Indians !      There     are     the    Indians 
coming !" 

George  very  boldly  told  them  to  "  come 
on/'  but  Gus  went  close  to  Guy,  and  declared 
that  such  mere  specks  as  they  saw  in  the 
distance  couldn't  be  Indians ;  yet  was  sud- 
denly most  anxious  to  know  whether  they 
were  cannibals,  and  if  so,  whether  he  looked 
a  tempting  morsel  or  not. 

Guy  could  not  help  laughing  at  his  ques- 
tions, although  he  himself  felt  quite  un 
%easy  at  the  approach  of  the  wild  hunters 
of  the  prairies,  which  were  seen  rapidly 
drawing  near  to  them.  The  men  in  the 
train  formed  a  closer  circle  about  the  wag- 
ons, and  hastily  inspected  their  rifles,  while 
Mr.  Harwood  gave  them  instructions  how 
to  proceed  in  case  of  an  attack. 

"  That,  however,  he  did  not  greatly  ap- 
prehend, as  they  soon  perceived  the  In- 
dians were  but  a  small  party  of  middle- 


ACROSS    TlIE    PLAINS.  tf 

aged,  or  old  men,  and  ^squaws,  and  it  is 
seldom  such  a  party  attempts  to  molest 
any  number  of  travelers. 

However,  Mr.  Harwood  thought  it  best 
to  keep  them  at  a  safe  distance,  and  when 
they  approached  within  a  hundred  yards 
of  the  train,  suddenly  commanded  them  to 
halt  by  raising  his  right  hand  with  the 
palm  in  front,  and  waving  it  backward 
and  forward  several  times.  They,  upon 
this,  stopped  their  horses,  and  consulted 
together  a  few  moments,  then  fell  into  a 

o  / 

posture  indicative  of  rest.  Then,  Mr.  Har- 
wood raised  his  hand  again  and  moved  it 
slowly  from  right  to  left.  This  they 
understood  to  mean  "who  are  you?"  One 
of  the  oldest  of  them  immediately  replied 
by  placing  a  hand  on  each  side  of  the  fore- 
head, with  two  fingers  pointing  to  the  front, 
to  represent  the  narrow,  sharp  ears  of  a 
wolf." 


78  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

They  are  Pawnees,  said  Mr.  Harwood. 
Ah !  there  is  the  chief  making  signs  that 
they  wish  to  talk  with  us." 

A  long  conversation  "by  means  of  signs, 
in  the  use  of  which  the  prairie  Indians  are 
very  expert,  was  then  carried  on  between 
Mr.  Harwood  and  the  old  chief.  Remem- 
bering his  promise  to  Aggie,  to  protect 
her  from  the  Indians,  Guy  went  to  Mrs. 
Harwood's  wagon  to  assure  her  there  was 
no  danger,  and  that  he  would  remain  near, 
and  then  took  a  stand  behind  the  wagon 
where  he  could  see  and  hear  all  that 
passed. 

He  was  soon  joined  by  George  and  Gus, 
for  Guy  was  always  so  calm  and  collected 
that  they  felt  quite  safe  near  him,  though 
he  was  no  stronger  or  older  than  them- 
selves. 

They  all  watched  the  Indians  with  much 
interest,  and  were  surprised  to  see  that 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  79 

instead  of  being  giants,  as  accounts  of  their 
cruel  and  wonderful  deeds  had  led  them 
to  expect,  they  were  of  medium  height. 
In  place  of  the  horrible  face,  and  the  flam- 
ing eyes  they  had  pictured,*  they  saw  the 
countenances  of  these  Indians  were  intelli- 
gent, and  although  of  course  of  a  bright 
copper  hue,  were  in  some  instances  quite 
handsome.  The  hair  of  the  men  was  very 
long,  and  streamed  like  black  pennants, 
upon  the  wind.  Their  arms,  shoulders, 
and  breasts  were  quite  naked,  and  their 
dress  consisted  only  of  deer  skin,  with  a 
cloth  wound  around  the  lower  part  of  the 
body.  One  or  two  were  covered  with  buf- 
falo robes,  of  which  every  warrior  carries 
one,  in  which  he  wraps  himself  when  cold. 
Guy  thought  that  the  men  as  they  sat 
proudly  upon  their  beautiful  horses,  hold- 
ing in  their  hands  long  bows  made  of  the 
tough  wood  of  the  osage  orange,  which  is 


80  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

as  supple  as  elastic,  looked  very  noble 
and  fine.  Their  bows  were  about  eight 
feet  long  and  were  wound  around  with  the 
sinews  of  deer,  and  strung  with  a  cord  of 
the  same.  The  arrows  were  about  twenty 
inches  long,  of  flexible  wood,  with  a  tri- 
angular point  of  iron  at  one  end,  and  two 
feathers  intersecting  each  other  at  right 
angles,  at  the  opposite  extremity." 

This  description  Guy  quoted  to  his  com- 
panions, from  a  book  he  had  once  read, 
and  they  saw  at  once  how  perfectly  true  it 
was.  While  they  were  astonished  at  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  they  were  much 
diverted  at  that  of  the  women.  They 
were  very  short  and  ugly ;  each  had  her 
hair  cut  short,  and  they  were  dressed  the 
s.une  as  the  men  with  the  addition  of  a 
skirt  of  dressed  deer  skin.  Their  faces 
were  tattooed  in  the  most  uncouth  devices, 
and  altogether  they  appeared  quite  hide- 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS  81 

ous,  as  they  sat  upon  their  horses,  in  the 
same  position  as  the  men,  regarding  with 
much  interest  the  movements  of  their  chief 
who  had  been  made  to  understand  that  he 
might  come  alone  to  the  train. 

At  first,  he  seemed  doubtful  about  the 
propriety  of  such  an  act,  but  his  wish  for 
gain  soon  overcame  his  caution,  and  he 
rode  up  to  Mr.  Harwood,  making  many 
signs  and  protestations  of  friendship,  which 
were  returned  most  graciously.  After  a 
long  series  of  compliments  had  passed  be- 
tween them,  the  old  chief  gave  Mr.  Har- 
wood to  understand  that  his  people  were 
hungry  and  needed  sugar,  corn,  and  many 
other  things.  Mr.  Harwood  replied  by  say- 
ing there  were  many  deer  upon  the  prairie, 
which  they  could  kill,  that  they  themselves 
had  but  little  provision  but  would  give 

them   some   beads,  and  bright   paints,  in 
4* 


82  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

token  of  the  good  feeling  of  the  whites 
toward  them. 

At  that  the  old  man  was  delighted,  for  the 
Indians  are  very  fond  of  beads  and  all 
kinds  of  ornaments,  and  of  paints,  with 
which  they  daub  their  faces  and  arms  in 
the  most  grotesque  manner,  upon  any  grand 
occasion.  But  the  old  chief  disdained  to 
exhibit  any  satisfaction,  and  smoked  the 
pipe,  that  had  been  offered  him,  in  the  most 
indifferent  manner  while  the  presents  were 
being  procured  from  the  wagons. 

"When  the  old  man  had  entered  the 
vamp,  George  and  Gus  thought  it  prudent 
to  retreat  to  their  mother's  wagon,  from 
whence,  they  could  look  out  and  see  all 
that  was  going  on.  Aggie,  on  the  contrary 
was  so  anxiouo  to  have  a  nearer  view  of 
the  Indians,  when  she  found  them  so  much 
less  terrible  than  she  had  imagined,  that 
she  begged  her  mother  to  allow  her  to 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  $3 

stand  with  Guy  outside  the  wagon,  and 
after  some  little  hesitation,  Mrs.  Harwood 
permitted  her  to  do  so. 

When  Guy  lifted  the  little  girl  from 
the  wagon,  the  savage  gave  a  grunt  of  sur- 
prise, and  gazed  for  a  long  time  upon  her 
with  such  evident  admiration  that  Guy 
was  greatly  afraid  he  would  take  a  fancy 
to  carry  her  off.  But  Aggie,  herself  en- 
tertained no  such  fears,  and  after  looking  at 
the  old  man  curiously  for  some  little  time, 
approached  him  slowly  and  examined  his 
strange  dress,  the  circular  shield  covered 
with  buffalo  hide  that  was  strapped  on 
his  left  arm,  and  the  formidable  war-club 
that  lay  at  his  side.  It  was  made  of  a 
stone,  about  two  pounds  in  weight,  round  • 
which  a  withe  of  elastic  wood  was  bound, 
being  held  in  its  place  by  a  groove  which 
had  been  formerly  cut  in  the  stone.  The 
two  ends  of  the  withe  formed  a  handle 


84:  A    BOY'S    TJRIP 

about  fourteen  inches  long,  and  were 
bound  together  with  strips  of  buffalo  hide, 
which  rendered  it  strong  and  firm,  totally 
preventing  it  from  either  splitting  down, 
of  breaking  when  used,  as  no  doubt  it  often 
was,  with  great  force,  upon  the  heads  of 
unfortunate  enemies. 

The  old  chief  allowed  Aggie  to  examine 
all  those  things  with  the  greatest  good 
nature,  and  when  she  touched  his  quiver  of 
arrows,  and  asked  him  to  give  her  one,  he 
grunted  assent ;  so  she  took  the  prettiest 
one,  and  after  admiring  it  for  some  time, 
nodded  and  smiled,  and  walked  toward 
Guy  with  the  prize  in  her  hand.  But  im- 
mediately the  Indian  darted  to  his  feet, 
frowning  with  anger,  and  sprang  toward 
the  frightened  child.  Mr.  Harwood  and 
most  of  the  men  believed  for  the  moment 
that  he  was  indeed  about  to  attempt  to 
carry  her  off,  and  with  loud  voices  bade 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  85 

him  stand  back,  and  levelled  their  rifles 
upon  him,  to  enforce  obedience.  The  old 
man  raised  his  hand,  and  immediately  the 
whole  force  on  the  prairie  commenced 
galloping  toward  them. 

"  Aggie  give  him  his  arrow  !"  cried  Guy 
at  this  juncture,  "he  misunderstood  you; 
he  thinks  you  have  stolen  his  arrows  !  Give 
it  to  him." 

She  did  so,  the  old  man  released  her, 
and  she  fled  to  the  wagon  like  a  frightened 
deer.  With  a  few  expressive  gestures  Guy 
explained  to  the  Indian  the  mistake  that 
had  been  made,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
became  evident  to  Mr.  Harwood  and  his 
party.  The  chief  signaled  to  his  party 
to  retire,  and  in  less  time  than  it  has 
taken  to  describe  it,  peace  was  restored ; 
whereas  but  for  Guy's  presence  of  mind  a 
terrible  battle  might  have  followed  Aggie's 
innocent  freak. 


86  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

But,  notwithstanding  that  peace  had 
been  restored,  they  were  all  glad  when  the 
chief  took  up  his  presents  and  went  back 
to  his  motley  followers,  and  even  more  so, 
when  they  put  their  horses  to  their  utmost 
speed,  and  returned  to  their  lodges  ;  where 
no  doubt  they  gave  to  their  tribe  an  as- 
tounding account  of  the  adventure  of  their 
chief  in  the  camp  of  the  white  man. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  37 


CHAPTER    VII. 

FOE  some  time  after  the  encounter  with 
the  Indians,  which  happily  ended  so  peace- 
fully, the  train  moved  on  without  meeting 
with  any  adventures.  George  and  Gus 
thought  the  days  passed  very  drearily,  and 
longed  for  some  excitement,  but  Guy  was 
altogether  too  busy  to  feel  dull.  Mrs, 
Harwood's  baby  was  quite  sick,  and  as 
Mrs.  Loring's  time  was  fully  taken  up  in 
attending  to  him,  Guy  had  double  work 
to  do. 

You  would  be  surprised  if  I  should  tell 
you  half  that  he  did.  Of  all  the  fires  he 
built ;  the  oxen  he  fed ;  the  water  he  car- 
ried, and  even  the  breakfasts  and  suppers 
he  helped  to  cook.  And  he  did  it  all  in 
the  best  manner  of  which  ho  was  capable 


88  A  -BOY'S    TRIP 

too.  Although  the  first  biscuits  he  made 
were  heavy,  the  next  were  light  as  down, 
for  he  inquired  into  the  cause  of  his  failure 
and  rectified  it,  and  by  doing  that  in  every 
case  he  soon  learned  to  do  perfectly  all 
that  he  undertook. 

Most  children  would  have  thought  the 
life  of  constant  toil  which  Guy  led  very 
wretched  indeed ;  but  he  did  not,  for  he  had 
daily  the  gratification  of  perceiving  that 
the  great  object  of  their  journey  across  the 
plains  was  being  gradually  accomplished ; 
his  mother's  health  was  slowly  becoming 
strengthened,  by  every  step  they  took 
toward  the  snowy  mountains,  beyond 
which  lay  the  fruitful  valleys  in  which 
they  hoped  to  find  a  home. 

But,  as  the  days  passed  by,  they  greatly 
feared  that  one  of  their  number  would 
never  reach  there ;  the  baby  boy  grew 
worse.  The  cooling  breezes  that  brought 


THE    PLAINS.  89 

health  to  his  weakly  sister,  seemed  fraught 
with  death  for  the  lately  blooming  boy. 
Guy  was  greatly  saddened  by  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  child,  and  by  the  grief  of  its 
parents,  and  shuddered  when  he  saw  the 
bones  of  animals  which  lay  by  thousands 
bleaching  upon  the  desert,  and  once  was 
filled  with  horror  on  coming  across  a  hu- 
man skull,  which  the  prairie  wolves  had 
dragged  from  some  shallow  grave,  and 
separated  far  from  its  kindred  bones.  The 
idea  that  the  body  of  the  poor  little  baby 
should  meet  such  a  fate,  filled  him  with 
sorrow,  and  although  it  had  always  seemed 
to  him  a  natural  and  peaceful  thing  that 
the  temple  of  clay  should  rest  under  its 
native  dust,  after  the  flight  of  the  soul,  he 
thought  that  the  Indian  mode  of  sepulture, 
of  which  they  saw  examples  every  day, 
by  far  the  best. 

Very  often  they  saw  a  curious  object  in 


90  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

the  distance,  and  two  of  the  party,  riding 
forward  to  examine  it,  would  report  an 
Indian  place  of  burial.  Guy  had  himself 
gone  forward  once  and  found,  to  his  sur- 
prise, two  forked  poles,  some  six  or  eight 
feet  high,  supporting  something  wrapped 
in  a  blanket.  This  something  was  a  dead 
Indian,  who  in  this  strange  position,  with 
his  weapons  in  his  hands,  was  waiting  his 
summons  to  the  "  happy  hunting  grounds." 

On  his  return  to  the  train,  Guy  hastened 
to  find  Aggie,  to  tell  her  of  what  he  had 
seen.  She  was  listening  very  attentively, 
when  George  ran  up,  exclaiming :  "  Look 
at  the  rats !  there  are  thousands  of  rats  on 
the  plains  !" 

Aggie  looked  in  the  direction  indicated 
by  her  brother,  and  crying :  "  Oh,  the 
dreadful  rats,"  was  about  to  run  away, 
when  Guy  stopped  her,  telling  her,  laugh- 
ingly, that  they  were  the  wonderful  little 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  91 

prairie  dogs,  of  which  they  had  heard  so 
much. 

Truly  enough  when  she  gained  courage 
to  look  at  the  little  animals,  she  saw  that 
although  they  at  first  sight  resembled  rats, 
on  closer  inspection  they  appeared  even 
more  like  squirrels.  The  children  were 
greatly  entertained  by  watching  their 
quick,  active  movements,  as  they  darted 
about  through  the  low  grass.  A  very 
busy  community  they  appeared  to  be,  and 
with  plenty  to  gossip  about.  To  Aggie's 
delight  Guy  pretended  to  translate  their 
quick,  chirruping  barks  into  our  own  lan- 
guage. Some  he  said  were  telling  how  a 
monster  rattlesnake  had  come  to  visit  them 
without  any  invitation,  and  that  the  only  food 
he  would  eat,  was  the  youngest  and  fattest 
of  their  families;  and  that  their  constant 
intruders,  the  owls,  had  the  same  carnivor- 
ous tastes,  besides  which  they  rendered 


92  A   BOY'S  TRIP 

themselves  particularly  disagreeable,  "by 
standing  in  the  doors  and  staring  at  every 
dog  that  went  by,  and  even  preventing  the 
entrance  of  visitors,  to  the  great  distress 
of  all  the  belles  and  beaux  in  town. 

All  this  may  have  been  very  true,  for 
the  excited  little  creatures  talked  so  con- 
tinuously that  I  am  sure  they  must  have 
had  some  grievance,  and  the  children 
thought  it  must  be  the  owls  that  stood 
solemnly  at  the  entrance  of  many  of  the 
burrows.  They  did  not  see  the  rattle- 
snakes, so  even  Aggie  somewhat  doubted 
the  tales  of  their  ferocity,  which  Guy  said 
the  little  prairie  dogs  related. 

But  although  these  little  creatures  were 
such  chatterers,  they  appeared  very  indus- 
trious, for  many  hillocks  of  sand  indicated 
where  their  homes  were  burrowed.  Each 
little  hole  was  occupied  by  a  pair  of  dogs, 
one  of  which  was  often  seen  perched  on 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  93 

tlie  apex  like  a  sentinel.  But  like  many 
other  sentinels,  they  appeared  on  the  watch 
for  danger,  not  to  combat,  but  to  avoid  it, 
for  they  darted  like  a  flash  into  their  holes 
whenever  a  lean,  prowling  wolf  stalked  near 
them,  or  even  a  prairie  hen  flew  by. 

"  I  wish  you  would  tell  us  a  story  about 
prairie  dogs,"  said  Aggie  to  Gruy,  that  eve- 
ning when  they  were  gathered  around  the 
camp-fire. 

"  I  am  afraid  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  do 
that,'7  he  replied,  "for  very  little  seems  to 
be  known  about  them.  Naturalists  have 
never  paid  much  attention  to  them,  curious 
as  they  are." 

"  But  the  Indians  must  know  something 
about  them,"  said  Gus. 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  returned  Guy,  for 
before  the  white  man  came  to  annoy  them, 
they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  watch  ani- 
mals and  learn  their  habits,  that  they 


94:  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

might  know  which  were  fit  for  food,  and 
which  was  the  easiest  way  of  killing  them. 
Air,  yes,  now  that  I  have  been  thinking 
about  it,  I  do  remember  a  story  that  the 
Indians  tell  about  the  prairie  dogs  !" 

"  Oh  tell  it !"  cried  Aggie,  eagerly ;  Gus 
seconded  the  request,  and  even  George 
drew  nearer,  for  Guy  had  a  great  reputa- 
tion as  story  teller  in  the  camp. 

"  It  is  rather  a  long  tale,"  said  he,  "  but 
the  Indians  say,  a  true  one.  It  happened 
years  and  years  ago  when  each  animal  un- 
derstood the  language  of  all  others,  and 
men  conversed  with  them  as  readily  as 
with  themselves. 

"In  those  days  each  tribe  had  its  sorcer- 
ers, or  wise  men,  who  pretended  to  cure 
not  only  all  diseases  but  to  control  the 
destinies  of  men.  They  were  accordingly  ^ 
held  in  great  veneration  by  their  simple- 
minded  dupes,  as  are  their  few  descendants, 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  95 

which  even  at  this  day  practice  in  a  lesser 
degree  the  arts  of  their  forefathers. 

"  Well,  it  happened  that  when  these  men 
were  more  powerful  among  the  tribes  than 
the  chiefs  themselves,  that  they  combined 
together  to  wrest  from  the  hands  of  these 
the  commands  that  they  held,  in  order  that 
they  might  hold  the  people  both  in  bodily 
and  mental  subjection.  There  had  for  a 
long  time  existed  a  tradition  among  them, 
that  when  a  daughter  of  a  chief — an  only 
child, — should  love  a  brave  of  an  un- 
friendly tribe,  they  would  have  power  to 
change  her  into  a  flower  or  animal,  and 
unless  the  brave  should  find  the  means 
within  ten  moons,  or  months,  to  brake 
the  enchantment,  she  would  die,  and  with 
her  every  chieftain  and  his  family.  Accord- 
ingly these  wicked  sorcerers  found  constant 
pretexts  for  involving  the  tribes  in  war, 
especially  if  they  supposed  that  the  only 


96  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

daughter  of  a  chieftain  loved  a  brave  of 
another  tribe ;  but  for  many  years  all  their 
arts  were  in  vain,  for  the  Indians  were  so 
passionate  and  revengeful  that  immediately 
an  affront  was  given  or  received,  violent 
hatred  vanquished  love,  and  the  chiefs  and 
their  families  were  saved. 

"  The  sorcerers  were  almost  in  despair  of 
ever  obtaining  the  entire  authority  they 
craved,  when  it  came  to  pass  that  two 
rival  tribes  met  upon  the  plains,  and  as 
was  usual  in  such  cases,  a  battle  was 
fought.  The  Ohoolee  tribe  were  victo- 
rious, and  killed  many  of  the  Gheelees  and 
also  took  many  of  them  prisoners.  Among 
the  latter,  was  the  only  daughter  of  the 
chief  Sartahnah,  the  beautiful  Mahdrusa. 

"  Great  was  the  consternation  of  her  tribe, 
for  this  maiden  was  held  more  precious  by 
them,  than  a  hundred  braves.  She  was 
more  graceful  than  the  fairest  flower  that 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  97 

grew  upon  the  prairie ;  her  hair  was  longer 
than  the  grass  by  the  riverside  and 
blacker  than  the  night ;  her  eyes  were  like 
those  of  the  young  fawn,  and  her  voice 
was  sweeter  than  a  breeze  laden  with  the 
song  of  birds.  There  was  not  a  chieftain 
or  brave  of  the  Gheelee's  but  would  have 
laid  down  his  life  for  her,  and  great  was 
the  grief  and  shame  that  befell  them  when 
she  was  taken  captive  by  the  Ohoolees. 

"From   that   day   there   was    continual 
war  wa^ed  between  the  two  tribes.     The 

•     o 

Ohoolees  acted  on  the  defensive,  the 
Gheelees  on  the  offensive.  Never  a  week 
passed  but  that  a  party  of  braves  went 
forth  to  attempt  the  rescue  of  the  beauti- 
ful Mahdrusa  from  the  lodges  of  the  enemy. 
The  chief,  her  father,  to  increase  if  possible 
the  zeal  of  the  braves  promised  her  hand 
to  him  who  should  deliver  hsr.  There 
was  great  rejoicing  when  this  was  made 

5 


98  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

known,  for  all  loved  Mahdrusa,  though, 
she  cared  for  none.  Her  rescue  was 
attempted  with  a  thousand  times  more 
eagerness  than  before,  and  one  day 
Anoctah,  the  bravest  of  all  the  Gheelees, 
led  her  in  triumph  to  her  father's  wig  warn 
and  demanded  his  reward. 

"Mahdrusa  heard  him  with  dismay,  and 
clasping  her  father's  knees,  sank  down 
before  him,  and  entreated  him  to  give 
Anoctah  some  other  treasure. 

"  The  old  chief  told  her  that  was  impos- 
sible, and  Mahdrusa  wept  so  loudly  that 
the  whole  tribe  gathered  about  the  lodge 
and  asked  what  had  befallen  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  Sartahnah.  But  she  would  say 
nothing,  yet  wept  continually,  so  that  the 
sorcerers  said  the  spirit  of  the  rivers  was 
within  her,  and  that  they  alone,  could 
deliver  her  from  it. 

"Now  these  men  had  reasoned  together 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  99 

over  her  strange  malady,  and  said,  '  She 
mourns  so  much  over  her  betrothal  to 
Anoctah  because  she  loves  a  brave  of  an 
unfriendly  tribe.  Let  us  then  take  her 
from  her  father,  and  place  her  in  the  great 
medicine  lodge  where  we  can  work  our 
enchantments  upon  her,  and  make  our- 
selves rulers  of  all  the  tribes.' 

"  So  in  the  night  they  took  her  from  her 
father's  wigwam  into  the  great  medicine 
lodge,-  which  was  hung  about  with  the 
herbs  they  used  in  their  incantations,  and 
had  in  the  centre  a  great  heap  of  stones, 
within  which  was  a  fire  burning. 

"Beside  these  stones,  which  were  kept 
constantly  hot,  they  made  Mahdrusa  sit 
down,  and  while  she  still  wept,  her  tears 
fell  upon  the  stones,  and  a  great  vapor 
arose,  'which  the  sorcerers  condensed  upon 
clay  vessels  into  drops  of  water  as  pure  as 
crystal,  and  with  them  and  the  herbs  that 


100  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

hung  around,  made  a  decoction  so  powerful 
that  when  they  had  forced  Mahdrusa  to 
drink  it,  she  lost  all  power  and  reason,  and 
her  spirit  lay  passive  in  the  hands  of  her 
tormentors. 

" '  We  will  take  it  from  her  "body,'  said 
they,  'and  place  it  where  no  brave  will 
ever  discover  it. 

"'Let  it  fly  to  the  centre  of  the  wild 
rose/  said  one.  But  the  others  demurred, 
saying  her  lover  would  certainly  seek  it 
there. 

" '  Better  hide  it  under  the  thick  skin  of 
the  buffalo,'  said  another. 

" '  No  !'  they  answered,  '  the  brave  that 
Mahdrusa  loves  must  be  a  fearless  hunter, 
therefore  his  arrow  would  bring  her  forth.' 

"In  short,  they  talked  of  every  flower  and 
beast  on  the  prairie,  but  found  in  all  some 
fault,  until  the  most  cunning  of  all  men- 
tioned the  prairie  dogs.  'No  one  would 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  101 

look  for  her  in  their  miserable  holes,'  said 
he,  i  and  they  are  such  chatterers  that  the 
magpies,  themselves,  would  nofc  have  pa- 
tience to  listen  to  them.' 

"  So  it  was  agreed  that  her  spirit  should 
dwell  as  a  prairie  dog,  and  before  long  out 
sprang  one  from  a  reeking  cauldron  of 
herbs,  and  they  took  k  to  the  holes  of  the 
prairie  dogs  and  left  it  there,  placing  be- 
side it  a  terrible  serpent,  that  all  others 
might  be  afraid  to  approach  it,  and  an  owl 
at  the  door,  as  a  sentinel  that  would  stand 
looking  patiently  for  an  enemy  both  night 
and  day,  and  never  breathe  to  the  gossips 
around  her  the  tale  of  the  princess  that 
was  prisonecl  within. 

"And  that  was  how  the  rattlesnake  and 
owl  became  sharers  in  the  homes  of  the 
prairie  dogs,  and  it  was  with  these  awful 
companions  that  the  spirit  of  Mahdrusa 
spent  many  weary  days.  Meanwhile  her 


102  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

body  lay  in  the  medicine  lodge  of  her 
people,,  and  the  sorcerers  said  that  her  soul 
had  ascended  to  the  stars,  where,  in  ten 
moons,  she  would  be  purified  from  her  sin 
.and  return  to  her  body,  or  that  it  would 
die,  and  moulder  away. 

"  This  news  soon  spread  over  the  prairies, 
but  the  brave  that  Mahdrusa  loved  would 
not  believe  it.  He  knew  the  wicked  de- 
sires of  the  sorcerers,  and  believed  that  she 
was  a  flower  on  the  prairie,  and  that  he 
was  appointed  to  rescue  her. 

"So  he  went  forth  and  cut  down  every 
flower  that  he  found,  and  he  toiled  so 
ceaselessly  that  before  two  moons  had 
passed  not  a  blossom  remained,  and  still 
he  found  not  his  beautiful  Mahdrusa. 
Then  he  made  a  strong  bow,  and  arrows 
that  could  not  miss  the  mark,  and  he  slew 
the  beasts  of  the  prairie  by  hundreds,  yet 
he  could  not  find  his  lov^.  And  so  nine 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  1Q3 

moons  passed  by,  and  Mahdrusa  was  still 
in  her  horrible  captivity,  and  the  brave 
that  sought  her  was  bowed  down  as  if  by 
years,  with  the  weight  of  his  sorrow,  and 
his  body  was  so  steeped  in  the  blood  of 
the  animals  he  had  slain  that  he  w^as 
redder  than  clay,  and  his  descendants  con- 
tinue so  to  this  very  time.  All  the  beasts 
of  the  prairie  had  he  slain  in  his  terrible 
anger,  and  all  the  people  had  fled  to  the 
mountains  for  food,  thither  he  thought  he 
would  follow  them,  and  he  sat  down  upon 
a  ridge  of  sand,  to  strengthen  his  bow,  and 
sharpen  his  arrows,  when,  lo !  quite  un- 
mindful of  him,  a  thousand  little  creatures 
he  had  fancied  too  insignificant  to  notice, 
sprang  forth  from  their  holes,  and  gathered 
in  groups  for  their  daily  gossip. 

"  They  angered  him  so  greatly  by  their 
chatter  that  he  placed  an  arrow  on  his  bow 
to  fire  amono-st  them,  when  his  hand  was 

o  / 


104  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

stayed  by  hearing  a  curious  tale  that  a  gay 
young  dog  was  telling. 

"  l  She  lives  next  to  my  mother's  lodge,' 
said  he,  '  and  the  poor  thing  never  appears 
>  either  to  eat  or  drink.  I  took  her  a  deli- 
cate slice  of  cactus  myself,  but  I  dropped 
it  in  a  terrible  fright,  for  a  great  serpent 
darted  towards  me,  and  an  owl  sprang  for- 
ward and  devoured  my  youngest  brother 
before  he  had  time  to  utter  a  squeak.' 

"  The  brave  rejoiced  when  he  heard  these 
words,  and  springing  up,  went  in  search  of 
the  captive  prairie  dog.  Many  weary  days 
he  sought  in  vain.  He  asked  of  her  where- 
abouts from  every  insect  he  met,  but  none 
could  give  him  any  information,  and  the 
prairie  dogs,  under  the  spell  of  the  sor- 
cerers, were  silent — on  that  topic,  at 
least. 

"  There  was  but  a  day  left  in  which  he 
could  act.  Almost  in  despair,  he  wan- 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  1Q5 

dered  about  the  prairie  dog  town,  vainly 
looking  for  his  love. 

"  At  last  he  remembered  that  a  queer  old 
woman  whom  he  had  met,  while  hunting 
one  day,  had  told  him  that  she  was  his 
guardian  fairy,  and  had  given  him  two 
little  pieces  of  stone  which  he  was  to 
strike  together  if  ever  he  was  in  great 
trouble,  and  she  would  appear  and  help 
him. 

"  He  had  taken  but  little  notice  of  the 
old  woman  at  the  time,  supposing  her  to  be 
a  conjurer  or  evil  worker,  and  he  had  drop- 
ped the  little  stones  into  his  pouch,  where 
they  had  long  lain  forgotten.  Without 
daring  to  hope  that  they  would  be  of  any 
use,  he  took  them  out,  and  struck  them 
together.  A  tiny  spark  of  fire  fell  from 
them  upon  some  dry  grass  at  his  feet,  a 
flame  sprang  up,  and  lo !  out  of  it  stepped 
the  old  woman  he  sought. 

5* 


106  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

" '  So  you  have  called  me  at  last !'  said 
she,  '  what  is  it  that  I  shall  do  V 

"'Lead  me,  kind  fairy,  to  the  hiding 
place  of  the  beautiful  Mahdrusa,'  he  re- 
plied. 

"  So  she  went  before  him  to  a  part  of  the 
prairie  that,  in  all  his  wanderings,  he  had 
not  visited.  But,  strangely  enough,  before 
his"  feet  the  grass  turned  into  briars, 
through  which  he  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  could  force  his  way.  Every 
timid  hare  became  a  wolf,  each  gentle 
fawn  a  raging  buffalo,  but  the  brave  went 
on  undaunted,  brandishing  his  war-club, 
and  keeping  his  formidable  foes  at  bay. 
Never  for  a  moment  did  he  allow  fear  to 
gain  possession  of  him  for  he  knew  if  he 
did  he  should  be  lost.  It  was  only  faith 
and  courage  that  could  carry  him  safely 
through  that  enchanted  ground. 

" '  Stop !'  cried  the  fairy,  when  he  had 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  1QY 

passed  unscathed  through  a  thousand  dan- 
gers. '  Mahdrusa  p  before  you  !' 

"  But  before  he  could  look  for  her,  the 
owl  flew  like  a  fierce  hawk  in  his  face,  and 
pecked  at  his  eyes,  and  the  rattlesnake 
sprang  upon  him  burying  its  deadly  fangs 
into  his  -arm.  The  brave  almost  lost  his 
courage  then,  but  he  heard  Mahdrusa, 
though  in  the  voice  of  a  prairie  dog,  en- 
treating him  to  save  her.  He  caught  the 
serpent  in  his  hands,  and  seizing  its  jaws, 
tore  it  asunder,  and  wrapped  its  writhing 
body  around  his  wound,  while  at  the  same 
moment  the  fairy  called  up  a  terrible  wind 
that  blew  the  owl  far  away,  and  to  the 
arms  of  the  young  warrior,  the  little 
prairie  dog  that  held  the  soul  of  Mah- 
drusa. 

"  So  was  half  the  task  of  the  lover  accom- 
plished ;  yet  all  his  toil  would  be  in  vain 
if  he  could  not  before  the  .moon  set  that 


108  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

night  place  her  soul  in  the  body  it  had 
before  tenanted.  But  he  was  many  leagues 
from  the  lodge  in  which  it  lay,  and  he 
knew  that  by  his  own  power  he  could 
not  hope  to  reach  it  in  time,  so  he  called 
upon  the  good  fairy  again,  and  she  turned 
a  rabbit  into  a  fleet  courser  that  bore  the 
lover  and  the  enchanted  maiden,  over  the 
prairie  with  the  swiftness  of  wind. 

"  The  moon  was  but  a  few  inches,  it  ap- 
peared, above  the  horizon,  when  they 
reached  the  lodge.  By  command  of  the 
sorcerers  all  the  people  had  returned  from 
the  mountains  to  see  whether  the  spirit  of 
Mahdrusa  would  come  from  the  stars,  or 
her  body,  which  all  this  time  had  lain  as 
if  in  a  deep  sleep,  take  upon  itself  the 
signs  of  death.  All  were  gathered  in  the 
great  lodge.  The  cauldron  of  herbs  from 
which  the  enchanted  prairie  dog  had 
emerged  was  boiling  over  the  fire,  and 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  109 

around  it  the  sorcerers  were  standing. 
Before  them  lay  the  body  of  the  beautiful 
Mahdrusa,  and  beside  it  stood  her  father 
and  Anoctah. 

"  Into  the  lodge,  into  the  midst  of  all  the 
people,  the  young  brave  sprang !  The  war- 
riors of  the  Gheelees  raised  their  war 
clubs  when  they  saw  one  of  the  hated 
Ohoolees,  but  the  young  brave  cried, 
1  strike  me  not,  for  I  bear  the  soul  of  Mah- 
drusa !' 

"  Then  they  all  fell  back  and  Anoctah 
said,  '  Restore  it  to  her  body,  and  she  shall 
be  thine,  if  she  loves  thee  better  than  me.' 

"  But  the  sorcerer^  sprang  upon  him,  and 
tried  to  tear  the  little  prairie  dog  from  hk 
bosom,  but  the  fairy  cried  : — 

" i  Hold  her  with  thy  right  hand  into  the 
cauldron  and  she  shall  be  saved !' 

11  So  he  broke  away  from  the  sorcerers  and 
plunged  the  enchanted  one  into  the  boil- 


110  A    BOY'S  TRIP 

ing  cauldron,  unheading  the  agony  he  suf- 
fered or  the  cries  of  the  little  animal  he 
held,  and  in  a  moment  the  moon  plunged 
beneath  the  horizon  ;  Mahdrusa  arose  from 
her  long  sleep ;  the  sorcerers  fell  into  the 
boiling  cauldron  and  were  consumed  ;  and 
all  the  people  shouted  for  joy,  and  with 
one  accord  cried  that  the  Ohoolees  should 
from  henceforth  be  their  brothers,  and  the 
young  brave  who  had  rescued  Mahdrusa, 
their  chieftain,  when  her  father  was  called 
to  the  happy  hunting  grounds. 

"  The  next  day  the  marriage  of  the  young 
brave  and  Mahdrusa  was  celebrated  with 
great  splendor.  And,  bShold,  after  the  cere- 
mony was  over,  a  beautiful  young  maiden 
stood  in  the  place  where  the  old  woman 
had  been. 

"  '  I  too  was  enchanted  by  those  wicked 
sorcerers,  and  condemned  to  wear  the  form 
of  an  old  woman  until  I  should  make  two 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  HI 

young  hearts  perfectly  happy.  I  Lave 
completed  my  task  to-day.' 

"  Then  Anoctah  who  had  been  very  sor- 
rowful, looked  up,  and  seeing  the  beautiful 
maiden,  forgot  his  love  for  Mahdrusa,  and 
entreated  the  stranger  to  be  his  wife. 

"  She  loved  him  well  and  consented,  and 
thus  made  a  third  heart  joyful  as  those  of 
the  young  Ohoolee  brave  and  his  beautiful 
Mahdrusa. 

"And  they  lived  happily  together  all 
their  lives,"  quoted  Aggie,  from  the  fairy 
tales  she  had  heard.  "Why,  Guy,  that 
was  a  long  story,"  she  added  yawning, 
"  and  it  has  made  me  so  sleepy  I  shall 
go  to  bed.  Good-night !" 

"  Good-night,"  returned  Guy,  not  -very 
well  pleased  that  she  should  be  so  sleepy, 
and  fearing  that  his  story  must  have  been 
very  stupid  as  well  as  long.  Perhaps  it 
was  because  of  this,  that  he  sat  down  by 


112  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

the  fire  again  when  she  was  gone  instead 
of  going  to  bed  as  he  usually  did,  and  it 
was  from  sitting  there  that  he  got  into 
trouble  on  the  following  day,  and  to  tell 
you  what  his  •  trouble  was  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  next  chapter. 


ACKOSS    THE    PLAINS.  H3 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

» 

u  I  SAY,"  said  George,  slapping  Guy  on 
the  shoulder,  the  moment  after  his  father 
bade  them  "  good-night "  and  went  to  his 
wagon,  telling  them  to  go  to  theirs,  "  I  say, 
I  have  got  the  best  thing  to  tell  you,  and 
we'll  have  the  greatest  fun,  if  you  don't 
turn  sneak  and  try  to  get  out  of  it." 

"  I'm  not  likely  to  turn  sneak !"  re- 
torted Guy  very  indignant  that  he  should 
be  thought  capable  of  such  a  thing. 
"  What  are.  we  to  have  such  fun  at  ?  I 
don't  think  you  will  find  that  I  shall  shirk 
it," 

Now,  Guy  never  would  have  said  that 
without  knowing  what  George's  fun  was 
to  be,  had  he  not  been  vexed  at  Aggie's 


114:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

cool  reception  of  his  story,  and  at  some 
other  things  that  had  happened  through 
the  day.  He  was  in  a  very  restless,  dis- 
satisfied temper,  and,  as  many  other  boys 
do  under  those  circumstances,  he  felt  like 
doing  any  wild  thing  that  was  suggested 
to  him,  without  inquiring  whether  it  was 
right  or  wrong. 

George  saw  that,  and,  greatly  delighted, 
said  :  "  I  told  Gus  I  didn't  believe  you 
would  back  out,  and  we  will  have  such  a 
jolly  time !  You  know  there  are  num- 
bers of  antelopes  on  the  plains  here,  and  I 
heard  James  Graham  say  this  morning, 
that  there  would  be  sure  to  be  a  great 
many  of  them  go  down  to  that  little 
creek  to  drink  just  as  soon  as  the  moon 


rose." 


"  Well,"  said  Guy,  wondering  greatly 
what  the  herd  of  antelopes  had  to  do  with 
their  fun. 


ACKOSS    THE    PLAINS.  H5 

"  Well,"  returned  George,  "  I  have  been 
reading  a  book  that  tells  all  about  hunting 
them.  That  was  what  I  was  doing  when 
pa  thought  me  so  studious  to-day,  and  I 
found  out  how  to  hunt  them  at  night,  and 
it's  just  as  easy  as  can  be.  You  have  only 
to  creep  up  to  them  silently,  and  you  can 
shoot  them  down  by  dozens." 

"  Like  partridges  ?"  commented  Guy,  in 
a  tone  of  doubt. 

"  You  needn't  laugh  at  what  I  say,"  re- 
turned George.  "  You  can  ask  Gus  if  it 
isn't  so,  and  if  you  don't  believe  him,  I'll 
show  you  the  book." 

"  Oh  !  I  believe  it  all,  of  course !"  said 
Guy,  hastily ;  "  but  I  don't  see  what  dif- 
ference it  makes  to  us,  for  we  have  nothing 
to  hunt  antelopes  with." 

"  There  are  plenty  of  guns  in  the  wag- 
on," said  George,  in  a  low  voice,  and  I 
don't  see  why  we  shouldn't  use  them." 


116  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

Guy  was  greatly  startled  at  this  speech, 
for  Mr.  Harwood  had  told  all  the  boys 
never  to  touch  one  of  the  guns.  He  re- 
minded George  of  that,  but  he  only 
laughed,  and  began  a  glowing  account  of 
the  glorious  time  they  would  have  in 
creeping  toward  the  creek,  in  the  moon- 
light, and  shooting  down  the  antelopes  as 
they  beat  their  heads  to  drink. 

Guy's  imagination  was  highly  excited 
by  George's  words,  and  from  being  the 
most  unwilling,  he  became  the  most  anx- 
ious that  the  midnight  hunt  should  be 
attempted,  quite  forgetting  Mr/Harwood's 
commands  in  thinking  of  the  triumph  they 
might  have  in  the  morning,  in  exhibiting 
two  or  three  dead  antelopes. 

He  readily  assented  to  George's  proposi- 
tion, that  they  should  then  proceed  to  the 
wagon,  and  choose  their  guns.  No  induce- 
ments or  threats,  even  to  the  breaking  of 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  H7 

his  bones,   would    induce   Gus   to   touch 
one. 

"Then,"  said  George,  '*'  you  shall  carry 
this  small  hatchet,  and  a  knife,  so  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  cut  the  horns  and  tails  off 
the  antelopes  that  we  can't  bring  home 
with  us.  I  don't  suppose  we  shall  be  able 
to  carry  more  than  one  apiece." 

After  securing  their  guns,  they  left  the 
camp  very  cautiously,  each  one  going  a 
different  way,  and  all  meeting  at  a  point 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  camp, 
on  the  banks  of  the  little  stream,  where 
they  expected  the  antelopes  would  come  to 
drink. 

They  stayed  there  in  silence  for  some 
time,  for  Guy,  remembering  his  former 
experience  on  the  prairie,  was  afraid  to 
venture  for  even  a  moment  out  of  sight  of 
the  camp-fires.  But  at  last  they  all 
became  so  impatient  at  remaining  so  still 


A    BOY'S    TRIP 

and  seeing  nothing,  that  they  ventured, 
very  cautiously,  a  little  farther  up  the 
stream.  Guy  took  the  lead,  and  very  often 
would  stop,  and  motion  to  his  companions 
to  do  likewise,  whenever  he  fancied  he 
heard  any  noise. 

Thus  two  very  tiresome  hours  passed 
away,  and  Gus  was  very  crossly  protest- 
ing against  staying  any  longer,  when  Guy 
motioned  him  very  eagerly  to  be  still,  and 
with  great  triumph  pointed  to  a  number  of 
animals  that,  one  by  one,  very  slowly  and 
cautiously,  were  going  down  to  the  water 
to  drink. 

They  were  very  slender  and  graceful, 
about  the  size  of  a  small  deer,  and  covered 
with  coarse,  wiry  hair,  and  bearing  upon 
their  small,  well-formed  heads  a  pair  of 
branching  horns. 

They  descended  to  the  water,  without 
exhibiting  any  signs  of  suspicion  or  fear, 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  H9 

for  the  boys,  quite  by  accident,  Lad  got  to 
the  leeward  of  them — that  is,  where  the 
wind  would  not  pass  from  them  to  the 
antelopes,  and  give  to  the  keen  animals 
notice  of  their  presence. 

"  Now,'*     whispered     Guy,     excitedly, 
"  wait  until  you  see  them  stoop  their  heads 
to  drink,  and  then  fire  at  them !     Now- 
ready!" 

Both  boys  raised  their  guns  and  fired. 
There  was  a  terrible  concussion.  Both 
were  thrown  flat  upon  their  backs,  with 
the  idea  that  their  heads,  or  at  least  their 
noses,  were  shot  off,  and  away  stampeded 
the  antelopes,  as  fast  as  their  slender  legs 
would  carry  them. 

Gus  began  to  howl  and  cry  most  wildly, 
believing  that  his  brother  and  Guy  were 
both  killed.  They,  however,  soon  con- 
vinced him  that  they  were  both  alive,  by 
rising,  each  declaring  his  nose  was  broken, 


120  ^    BOY'S    TRIP 

and  pointing  to  the  flowing  blood  as  proof 
of  it 

George  was  terribly  enraged,  chiefly  at 
the  gun,  which  he  declared  had  "  kicked" 
him.  Guy,  on  his  part,  was  very  much 
vexed  with  George,  for  having  brought 
him  on  such  a  profitless  adventure;  but 
though  he  was  suffering  very  much  from 
his  rashness,  the  whole  thing  appeared  to 
him  so  ridiculous,  that  he  laughed  long 
and  heartily. 

"  I  believe  you  would  laugh  if  you  were 
dying,"  grumbled  George,  as  they  stood 
together  by  the  side  of  the  creek,  washing 
their  face.  "  Pretty  figures  we  shall  make 
to-morrow,  sha'n't  we?  And  pa  will 
give  it  to  you  to-morrow,  too,  for  taking 
the  guns." 

"You  told  me  to  do  it!"  retorted  Guy, 
sullenly,  but  quite  alarmed  at  the  thought 
of  Mr.  Har wood's  impending  wrath,  as 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S. 

well  as  angry  at  himself  for  having  done 
anything  to  incur  it. 

George  answered  him  very  rudely,  and 
then  followed  a  quarrel  between  the  two, 
which  was  at  last  brought  to  an  abrupt 
termination  by  a  terrible  scream  from  Gus. 
They  looked  toward  him,  and  saw,  with 
horror,  an  immense  panther,  but  a  short 
distance  off,  making  ready  for  a  spring. 

The  boys  were  transfixed  with  horror,  as 
they  saw  his  glaring  eyes  fixed  upon  them. 

They  saw  him  crouch  like  an  immense 
cat,  preparing  to  spring  upon  its  prey. 
They  saw  a  sudden  flash  of  fire  before 
their  eyes,  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and, 
with  as  much  fear  as  joy,  beheld  the  terri- 
ble monster  spring  high  into  the  air,  and 
fall  to  the  ground,  tearing  up  the  ground 
with  its  claws,  and  foaming  at  the  mouth, 
in  agony.  Another  shot  ended  its  strug- 
gles and  its  life  together. 
c 


122  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

The  boys  uttered  cries  of  joy  for  their 
delivery  from  the  terrible  death  with 
which  the  panther  had  threatened  one,  or 
perhaps  even  all,  of  them  ;  but  they  were 
very  much  frightened  to  see  that  their  deliv- 
erer was  Mr.  Harwood. 

He  looked  at  them  very  sternly  and 
said — 

"You  may  be  very  thankful  that  I 
heard  the  reports  of  your  guns  and  came 
in  search  of  you,  or  your  disobedience 
might  have  been  punished  most  fearful- 
ly." 

With  great  sorrow  and  shame  they  felt 
that  his  words  were  true,  as  they  stood 
beside  the  dead  panther,  and  looked  at  his 
long  claws,  and  the  firm  white  teeth  in  his 
large  mouth. 

Gus  burst  into  tears,  and  said  he  knew 
the  horrible  creature  was  making  straight 
for  him,  and  eagerly  assured  his  father 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  123 

that  he  would  never  disobey  him  again  in 
his  life. 

George  and  Guy  were  quite  ready  to 
make  the  same  promise,  but  Mr.  Harwood 
looked  so  stern  that  they  dared  not  speak 
to  him,  and  Guy  felt  utterly  wretched 
when,  instead  of  scolding  him,  Mr.  Har- 
wood looked  at  him  very  sorrowfully,  and 
said: 

"I  am  disappointed  in  you,  Guy!  I 
thought  I  could  trust  you." 

"  Tne  next  thing,  I  heard  the  reports  of 
the  guns,  and  immediately* surmised  where 
you  were.  I  was  so  anxious  about  you, 
that  I  would  not  call  one  of  the  others, 
but  came  immediately  in  pursuit  of  you, 
and  it  is  well  that  I  did." 

"  How  was  the  baby,  when  you  left  f ' 
asked  the  conscience-stricken  Guy. 

"  Dying,"  returned  Mr.  Harwood,  em- 
phatically. 


A    BOY'S    TRIP 


Guy  waited  to  hear  no  more,  but  darted 
forward,  reaching  the  camp  some  minutes 
before  his  companions.  He  saw  that  sev- 
eral in  the  train  were  up,  and  some  called 
after  him,  asking  where  he  had  been. 
Without  stopping  to  answer  them,  he  ran 
on  to  Mrs.  Harwood's  wagon,  and  seeing 
it  all  alight  within,  sprang  to  the  front, 
and  hastily  putting  the  canvas  door  aside, 
asked  how  the  baby  was. 

His  mother  came  over  to  him,  crying  and 
wringing  her  hands  — 

"  Oh,  Guy  !"  *she  cried,  "  where  have  you 
been  ?  How  wicked  you  were  to  leave  us 
so,  when  the  baby  was  dying  !" 

Guy  knew  not  what  to  say  —  he  had  no 
excuse  to  offer,  for  he  never  thought  of 
putting  the  blame  on  George.  He,  there- 
fore, kept  silent,  and  in  a  most  miserable 
state  of  mind,  followed  Mr.  Harwood  and 
his  sons  to  the  camp. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  125 

Gus  kept  close  to  his  father  all  the  way, 
crying  out  every  minute  or  two  that  he 
saw  another  panther,  and  at  last  asking 
how  it  was  that  their  absence  from  camp 
was  discovered. 

"  The  baby  was  very  ill,"  answered  Mr. 
Harwood,  gravely.  "He  was  in  convul- 
sions, and  your  mother  wanted  to  put  him 
in  a  hot  bath.  I  went  to  call  Guy  to  help 
us,  and  then  found  you  were  gone." 

"And  what  did  you  do  then 2"    asked 
Gus. 
""  Oh,  mother  !"  he  cried,  "  is  he  dead  !" 

"Yes,"  she  answered.  "He  died  while 
you  were  laughing  and  sporting.  I 
should  think  you  would  never  enjoy 
yourself  again,  while  you  can  remember 
that." 

Guy  looked  at  the  little  babe,  lying 
dead  on  its  mother's  lap,  and  thought, 
indeed,  that  he  never  should  be  happy 


126  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

again.  Aggie  added  to  his  distress  by 
looking  at  him  sternly,  with  her  widely- 
opened  eyes,  and  crying: 

"  Go  away,  you  bad,  bad  boy !  I  will 
never  love  you  again." 

"And  Mr.  Harwood  will  never  trust 
me,"  thought  Guy,  bitterly,  as  he  left  the 
wagon,  and  passed  Mr.  Harwood  and  his 
sons,  who  were  about  to  enter  it. 

Guy  slept  but  very  little  that  night ;  in 
the  first  place,  his  bruised  face  was  very 
painful,  and  he  was,  besides,  haunted  by 
the  remembrance  of  Mr.  Harwood's  re- 
proachful glance,  when  he  had  said  he  had 
been  deceived  in  him;  and  he  wondered 
if  he  would  carry  into  execution  the  threat 
he  had  made  before  they  left  home,  and 
greatly  feared  that  he  would,  for  he  felt 
that  he  had  been  quite  disobedient, 
and  seemingly  ungrateful  enough,  to  be 
left  alone  on  the  prairie. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  127 

The  train  did  not  move  on  as  early  the 
next  morning  as  usual,  for  the  poor  little 
baby  was  buried  upon  the  banks  of  the 
little  stream  where  the  boys  had  so  nearly 
lost  their  lives. 

Guy  thought  he  had  never  witnessed 
so  sad  a  scene  as  when  they  laid  the  beau- 
tiful baby,  that  looked  as  pure  and  sweet 
as  a  white  lily,  in  the  rough  coffin  that 
some  of  the  young  men  had  hastily  made, 
and  carried  him  to  a  lonely  spot,  that  per- 
haps no  feet  had  ever  trod  before,  and, 
breathing  a  prayer  over  him,  left  him  to 
his  long  sleep,  far  from  the  place  of  his 
birth,  or  that  for  which  his  kindred  were 
bound,  and  where  never  a  tear  would  be 
dropped  above  him,  or  a  sigh  breathed. 

Guy's  only  comfort  was,  and,  perhaps, 
too,  that  of  the  poor  baby's  father  and 
mother,  that  he  could  not  be  quite  alone, 
even  when  they  left  him,  for  God  would 


128  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

watch  over  him;  and  he  could  not  but 
rejoice  that  they  had  not  been  forced  to 
leave  him  in  the  shifting  sands  of  the 
desert,  but  that  a  green  tree  bent  over 
him,  and  grass  would  spring  above  the 
sod  in  which  he  lay. 

Poor  little  Aggie  was  quite  broken- 
hearted at  the  loss  of  her  poor  little  play- 
fellow, and,  quite  forgetting  her  anger 
went  to  Guy  for  comfort.  * 

After  he  had  said  all  he  could  to  cheer 
her,  he  told  her  of  his  own  troubles,  and 
how  sincerely  sorry  he  was,  for  having 
disobeyed  her  father.  Aggie  listened  very 
attentively,  and  at  last  said  : 

"Perhaps  papa  will  forgive  you.  I 
know  he  will,  if  you  go  to  him  and  tell 
him  how  sorry  you  are,  and  promise  him 
you  will  never  be  so  wild  and  disobedient 
again." 

"That  I  will,"   said   Guy   readily.     "I 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  129 

would  do  anything  to  merit  his  kindness 


once  more." 


But  it  was  several  days  before  Guy 
could  summon  courage  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Harwood,  who  treated  him  very  coldly, 
seldom  asking  him  to  do  anything,  and 
never  intrusting  the  care  of  even  the 
slightest  article  to  him.  Guy  every  day 
grew  more  and  more  miserable,  while  Gus 
and  George  congratulated  themselves  upon 
their  father's  silence,  and  almost  forgot 
that  they  had  ever  incurred  his  displeasure. 

"  But,  if  the  baby  hadn't  died,  wouldn't 
he  have  'whaled*  us,  though  !"  ejaculated 
George,  one  day. 

Guy  was  shocked  and  surprised  to  hear 
him  speak  so  lightly,  and,  without  more 
ado,  left  him,  and  going  to  Mr.  Harwood, 
told  him  how  grieved  he  was  for  his  diso- 
bedience, and  begged  him  to  forgive  him, 

and  restore  him  to  his  confidence  again. 
6* 


130  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"I  will  forgive  you,  Guy,"  said  Mr. 
Harwood,  kindly ;  "  but  I  cannot  place 
any  trust  in  you  again,  until  you  show 
yourself  worthy  of  it. 

"I  will  show  myself  worthy  P  ex- 
claimed Guy,  firmly.  "I  will,  indeed, 
Mr.  Harwood,  and  at  the  same  time  show 
my  gratitude  for  your  kindness." 

And  scarcely  a  week  passed  before  Guy 
fulfilled  his  promise. 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  131 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

"  I  believe  it  is  snowing  over  yonder/' 
cried  Aggie  to  Guy  one  day,  pointing  to 
the  west,  where,  truly  enough,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  the  earth  appeared  per- 
fectly white. 

"  It  does  look  like  snow,"  returned  Guy, 
looking  intently  in  the  direction  she  indi- 
cated, "  but  it  is  now  June,  and  we  certain- 
ly ought  not  to  encounter  such  a  fall  as 
that  appears  to  be,  besides,  there  is  a  per- 
fect glare  of  sunshine  there  !  Ah,  I  have 
it !  That  is  not  snow,  but  alkali !" 

"  What  is  alkali  ?"  asked  Aggie.  "  Is  it 
cold  !  Will  it  melt  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  Guy,  "  let  us 
ask  Mr.  Graham,  he  will  be  able  to  tell  us 
all  about  it." 


132  A  BOY'S  TRn> 

/ 
So  that  very  evening  when   the   train 

stopped  to  encamp  for  the  night,  they 
waited  until  Mr.  Graham  had  finished  his 
work,  and  Guy  had  done  all  that  was  re- 
quired of  him,  and  then  went  to  the  camp- 
fire  of  the  Grahams. 

They  were  very  warmly  welcomed,  for 
both  Guy  and  Aggie  were  great  favorites 
of  them  all,  and  after  they  were  all  quietly 
seated,  Guy  pointed  to  the  desert  of  alkali 
that  shone  like  crystal  beneath  the  beams 
of  the  moon,  and  asked  Mr.  Graham  if  he 
could  tell  them  of  what  it  was  composed, 
and  how  it  came  there. 

"  Of  the  last  I  can  say  nothing,"  re- 
turned Mr.  Graham,  "  except  that  it  was 
placed  there  by  an  all-wise  Creator  for 
some  good  purpose.  The  substance  itself 
is  a  sulphate  of  soda,  and  is  generally 
found  near  sulphur,  and  soda  springs.  A 
fall  of  rain  usually  brings  it  forth  from  the 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  133 

earth  it  impregnates  in  great  quantities, 
and  it  looks  very  beautiful.  The  white 
particles  often  assume  the  most  delicate 
shapes,  like  flakes  of  snow  for  instance,  or 
most  delicate  leaves,  and  ferns." 

"I  shall  be  very  glad  when  we  get 
there,"  said  Aggie,  "I  shall  think  we  are 
passing  a  winter  in  fairy  lands." 

"Then  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  it  a 
very  disagreeable  winter,"  returned  Mr. 
Graham,  laughing. 

"  Why  ?"  asked  Aggie,  opening  wide  her 
eyes  in  astonishment.  "Is  it  cold  there? 
I  thought  that  the  sun  shone  as  warmly 
there  as  it  does  here." 

"So  it  does,"  replied  Mr.  Graham.  "It 
will  not  be  of  the  weather  that  you  will 
complain,  but  of  what  you  call  the  beau- 
tiful snow." 

"  Ah  !  yes,  perhaps  the  glare  will  hurt 
my  eyes." 


134:  A   BOY1S    TRIP 

"I  think  it  very  likely,  Aggie,"  said 
Amy  Graham,  "but  my  brother  was  not 
thinking  of  that,  but  of  something  much 
worse.  These  alkali  salts  are  very  poison- 
ous, and  often  kill  people  if  they  are 
partaken  of  even  slightly." 

"  Indeed  !"  ejaculated  Aggie  and  Guy  at 
once. 

"HI  never  touch  them!"  continued  the 
latter,  "  and  I  am  so  sorry  I  can't,  because 
I  thought  it  would  be  so  nice  to  eat  some, 
as  if  it  was  snow." 

"  I  should  never  think  of  eating  it,"  said 
Guy.  "And  I  think  Aggie  would  not 
when  she  had  once  seen  what  kind  of  a 
substance  it  is,"  said  Mr.  Graham,  "for 
it  looks  much  more  like  powdered  wash- 
ing-soda than  snow,  and  tastes  more  like  it 
too." 

"Then  I  am  sure  I  wouldn't  take 
enough  even  to  make  my  mouth  taste 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS. 

badly!"  exclaimed  Aggie, . with  a  gesture 
of  disgust. 

"  I  thought  the  same  at  one  time,'7  said 
Mr.  Graham,  "  yet  it  was  only  a  very  short 
time  afterwards  that  I  was  nearly  killed 
by  partaking  of  it."  Fj- 
,  "How?"  cried  both  the  children,  eager- 
ly. "  Do  tell  us  about  it,  Mr.  Graham." 

"  Certainly  I  will,"  he  answered,  kindly. 
"  I  believe  I  have  told  you  before  that  this 
is  not  the  first  time  I  have  been  across  the 
plains.  I  made  my  first  trip  before  gold 
was  discovered  in  California,  and  when 
few  people  thought  of  going  there, 

"  There  was  then  no  well  defined  route 
such  as  we  have  been  following,  apd  when 
we  reached  the  alkali  desert  we  lost  trace 
of  any  road,  and  had  to  depend  entirely 
upon  our  reasoning  powers  for  guidance," 

"  Hadn't  you  any  compass  ?"  asked  Guy 

"Certainly,"  replied  Mr.  Graham,  "but 


136  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

as  we  were  rather  uncertain  which  direc- 
tion we  ought  to  take,  it  was  not  of  much 
use  to  us.  Before  a  week  was  over,  both 
ourselves  and  the  cattle  were  quite  worn 
down  with  our  tiresome  march  across  the 
glaring,  blinding  desert.  Our  condition 
daily  grew  worse,  for  all  sickened,  an  4 
suffered  dreadfully  for  want  of  water,  for 
there  was.none  to  be  found  but  that  which 
was  impregnated  with  soda.  Many  of  the 
people  drank  it,  and  became  very  sick; 
the  weary  oxen  quaffed  it  from  the  little 
pools,  formed  by  the  rain,  by  the  wayside, 
and  daily  two  or  three  died,  and  we  were 
compelled  to  leave  them  to  bleach  as  white 
as  the  alkali  around  them.  For  my  part, 
I  drank  no  water  for  days ;  enduring  the 
agonies  of  thirst  in  silence,  and  praying 
that  we  might  soon  find  relief.  One  day, 
one  of  my  comrades  died,  he  had  borne  the 
torture  attending  abstinence  as  long  as 


ACROSS    T&E    PLAINS.  137 

possible,  and  then  had  drank  to  repletion, 
and  been  poisoned.  There  had  been  a 
heavy  shower,  and  he  had  been  quite  un- 
able to  resist  the  temptation  it  offered. 
Two  days  after,  it  rained  again,  and  I  was 
almost  as  imprudent  as  my  friend  had 
been,  and  was  immediately  taken  so  ill 
that  I  feared  I  should  share  his  resting- 
place.  I  never  shall  forget  how  rejoiced  I 
was  when  we  got  into  a  pure  atmosphere 
and  healthy  soil  again,  but  it  was  weeks, 
yes,  even  months,  before  the  effects  of  my 
poisoned  draught  passed  entirely  away." 

"  Dear  me,"  cried  Aggie,  in  dismay,  "  are 
there  no  June  springs  in  the  alkali  desert ! 
Oh,  dear !  dear !  just  think  of  having  come 
so  far  just  to  be  poisoned  !'' 

"  We  will  see  that  you  do  not  drink 
after  a  shower,"  said  Mr.  Graham,  laugh- 
ing. "  But  even  the  little  birds  could  do 
that  here.  And  indeed  there  will  be  no 


138  A   BOY'S   TRIP 

necessity  for  you  to  do  so,  as  several 
springs  have  been  discovered  since  the 
time  I  spoke  of." 

"  I  wish  you  hadn't  told  me  about  .it," 
said  Aggie,  sadly,  "I  shall  think  all  the 
time  of  the  poor  creatures  that  have  been 
poisoned.  I  don't  like  to  hear  of  such 
dreadful  things,  even  if  they  are  true.  I 
would  a  great  deal  rather  hear  a  pretty 
story.  Miss  Carrie,  won't  you  tell  me 

one?" 

i 

"  My  brother  has  told  you  of  something 
that  once  happened  to  him/'  she  replied, 
readily,  "  and  now,  if  you  like,  I  will  relate 
a  little  adventure  that  befel  me  when  I 
was  a  little  girl." 

"  Oh  !  that  will  be  splendid,  Miss  Carrie. 
Do  tell  us  all  about  it." 

"I  must  tell  you,  in  the  first  place," 
began  Miss  Graham,  when  she  had  drawn 
Aggie  nearer  to  her  side,  so  that  she  should 


ACROSS   THE    PLAIN&  139 

not  lose  one  word  she  was  about  to  say, 
"  that  I  was  not  at  all  a  good  little  girl  at 
the  time  the  event  I  am  going  to  tell  you 
of,  took  place,  and  you  must  not,  therefore, 
be  surprised  to  hear  of  any  naughty  actions 
I  used  to  do. 

"  My  favorite  ones  were  those  by  which 
I  could  frighten  people.  Nothing  used  to 
delight  me  so  much  as  to  tell  ghost  stories 
to  my  younger  brothers  and  sisters  and 
leave  them  without  explaining  them,  when 
often  the  poor  little  creatures  would  be- 
come nearly  convulsed  with  terror,  and  my 
mother  would  find  great  trouble  in  quiet- 
ing them.  I  had  often  been  scolded,  and 
even  whipped  for  my  malicious  mischief 
but  all  to  no  purpose,  and  at  last  no  notice 
was  taken  of  me,  and  I  thought  my  father 
and  mother  had  made  up  their  mind  to  let 
me  tell  horrible  stories  until  I  was  tired  of 
them.  My  parents  often  went  out  in  the 


140  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

evening  to  the  theatre,  or  some  party  and 
on  such  occasions  it  was  my  usual  practice 
to  coax  my  brother  Charlie,  and  sister 
Amy  into  the  dining  room  with  me,  while 
the  nurse  put  my  youngest  brother  to  bed. 
When  I  had,  by  dint  of  threats,  and  per- 
suasions, got  them  into  the  room,  I  would 
make  them  sit  by  the  fire  suddenly  put 
out  the  candles,  and  begin  some  dreadful 
story.  Generally  the  nurse  came  in  the 
middle  of  it  and  carried  them  away  to  bed, 
where  they  would  cower  under  the  blank- 
ets and  tremble  at  every  sound." 

"  I  know,"  interrupted  Aggie,  "  I  used 
to  do  that  after  George  had  told  me  stories. 
But  did  you  believe  what  you  used  to  tell 
them  2" 

u  l  No,  my  love/  '  although  I  have  indeed 
told  such  horrible  things,  as  even  to 
awaken  my  own  fears.  Generally  how- 
ever, I  laughed  heartily  at  the  idea  of 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S. 

ghosts  and  said  I  should  like  to  see  one.' 

"  l  Oh  don't  say  so,7  said  Amy,  one  night. 
'What  should  we  do  if  one  should  ap- 
pear ?' 

" 1 1  do  wish  one  would/  returned  I, 
1  how  you  would  run.' 

"  Just  then  I  heard  a  terrible  crash,  as 
if  all  the  crockery  and  tinware  upon  the 
kitchen  dressers  had  tumbled  down. 

" '  What  can  that  be/  I  cried  in  alarm. 

" '  What  ?  asked  my  brother,  very 
quietly. 

"'Are  you  deaf?'  I  retorted.  ' Don't 
you  hear  that  dreadful  noise  ?  There  it  is 
again.  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ¥ 

"It  was  no  wonder  I  was  frightened  for 
there  sat  my  brother  and  sister  as  if  they 
heard  nothing,  while  every  moment  the 
noise  grew  louder.  I  had  always  thought 
myself  a  very  brave  girl  before,  but  1 
shook  with  alarm  at  these  unearthly 


142  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

sounds,  and  shrieked  with  terror  when  the 
door  opened,  and  a  terrible  figure  sur- 
rounded by  blue  flame  entered  the  room. 
I  pointed  at  it  in  speechless  horror.  It 
towered  nearly  to  the  ceiling  and  looked 
down  upon  me  with  eyes  that  glowed  like 
coals.  It  held  in  its  hand  a  whip  made  of 
snakes  with  which  it  menaced  me.  For  a 
few  seconds  I  could  neither  move  nor 
speak,  while  my  brother  and  sister  laughed 
and  talked  as  if  nothing  unusual  was 
going  on.  I  was  convinced  that  this  reve- 
lation from  the  spirit  world  was  made  to 
me  alone,  and  I  was  overwhelmed  by  the 
fear  that  I  was  to  be  carried  away  bodily, 
to  answer  before  the  ghosts  I  had  derided. 
The  monster  advanced  toward  me.  With 
a  shriek  I  bade  it  begone  !  it  laid  its  death 
cold  hand  upon  me  and — 

u '  Oh,  Miss  Carry,  don't  tell  any  more.' 
"  '  Oh,  it  was  so  horrible  !'  cried  Aggie, 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  143 

clasping  Guy's  arm  lightly.  "Oh'  dear, 
dear,  didn't  you  die  with  fright  ?" 

"  It  appears  not,"  returned  Miss  Gra- 
ham, laughing,  "  but  I  do  not  know  but  I 
should  have  done  so,  had  not  my  brother 
James  rushed  into  the  room,  caught  hold 
of  the  supposed  ghost  and  cried,  'there 
there,  that  will  do  Tom  !  Don't  you  see 
the  poor  child  is  nearly  frightened  to 
death.' 

"  So  it  wasn't  a  real  ghost  after  all,"  ex- 
claimed Aggie,  in  a  tone  of  mingled  disap- 
pointment and  relief. 

"  ISTo,  it  was  not  a  real  ghost  after  all, 
but  only  a  very  good  sham  one,  that  was 
made  up  by  my  brother  and  cousin  to 
frighten  me  out  of  my  propensity  of  fright- 
ening others,  and  you  may  be  sure  it  did 
so.  I  didn't  think  I  ever  afterwards  told 
a  ghost  story  of  which  I  could  not  as 
readily  give  an  explanation  as  of  this." 


144  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"But  you  frightened  me  though,"  said 
Aggie,  drawing  a  long  breath. 

"  But  you  are  not  frightened  now,  dar- 
ling?" 

"  Why  of  course  not  Miss  Carrie." 

"  But  do  you  know  I  think  I  would 
rather  hear  that  ^pretty  little  story  about 
the  '  Christ-child/  that  you  told  us  a  few 
evenings  ago,  or  one  of  those  little  poems 
of  which  you  know  so  many." 

"  I  do  not  think  I  can  remember  any  to- 
night," said  Miss  Carrie,  "but  perhaps 
Amy  can." 

"  Please  try  dear  Miss  Amy/'  cried  Aggie 
running  to  her,  "Mr.  Graham,  and  Miss 
Carrie  have  both  told  us  a  story,  and  now 
if  you  will  repeat  some  pretty  poetry  it 
will  be  so  nice." 

Miss  Amy  laughed  pleasantly,  and  lifted 
Aggie  on  her  lap.  "  My  pet,"  she  said, 
"  yesterday  I  heard  you  ask  your  mother 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  145 

what  she  thought  the  prettiest  thing  in  the 
world." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  cried  Aggie,  "  and  she  couldn't 
decide.  What  do  you  think  the  prettiest 
Miss  Amy  ?  But  then  perhaps  you  are 
'like  mamma,  you  think  there  are,  so  many 
beautiful  things  in  the  world  that  you 
can't  choose  between  them. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Amy  sweetly  though 
gravely,  I  have  decided.  "  Now  listen  to 
me  a  few  minutes  and  you  shall  know  what 
is  to  me 

FAIREST  AND  BEST:" 

"  There  came  a  child  to  my  side  one  day, 
And  lightly  she  said  with  a  laugh  of  mirth, 

'Tell  me  of  all  things,  now  I  pray, 

"Which  is  the  fairest  to  you  upon  earth? 

"  'Is  it  the  rose,  with  its  breath  of  balm? 

Is  it  the  gem  of  the  diamond  mine  ? 
Is  it  the  shell,  with  its  sea-song  calm  ? 

Or  the  pearl,  that  low  in  the  deep  doth  shine  V 


146  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  I  answered  her,  '  Though  the  rose  is  fair, 
Though  the  diamond  gleams  like  a  lesser  sun ; 

Oh,  ne'er  can  they,  e'en  in  thought  compare, 
With  my  chosen  beauty,  my  purest  one. 

"  '  For  mine,  far  sweeter  than  rose  doth  bloom, 
In  our  world  of  sorrow,  of  woe,  and  care ; 

E'en  light  of  the  diamond  seemeth  gloom, 
To  that  halo  divine  that  shineth  where ; 

"  '  My  fairest  thing  upon  all  the  earth, 

A  little  child  kneeleth  down  to  pray, 
And  sweeter  than  sound  of  ocean's  mirth 

Are  the  heav'nly  words,  she  doth  meekly  say. 

"  Yes,  as  I  look  on  a  kneeling  child, 

Of  those  I  think,  whom  our  Saviour  blest, 

And  I  know  of  all  things  fair  and  mild, 
The  pure,  young  heart  of  a  child  is  best.*  " 

Little  Aggie  remained  perfectlj  still 
for  some  moments  after  Miss  Amy  had 
finished.  At  last  she  lifted  up  her  face, 
and  kissed  the  young  lady  sweetly,  and 
whispered,  "  Dear  Miss  Amy  I  will  try  to 
remember  that.  I  am  sure  Mamma  thinks 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  147 

the  same  as  you  do.  Thank  you  for 
telling  me.  Good-night  my  dear  Miss. 
Amy.  Good-night  Miss  Carrie,  and  Mr. 
Graham.  We  have  had  such  a  nice  time 
haven't  we  Guy.  Now  we  will  go  home," 

"Good-night,  and  good-night  Mr.  Gra- 
ham, and  Miss  Carrie.  Come,  Guy,  let  us 
go  home." 

So  Guy  arose  and  led  the  little  girl  to- 
ward the  wagon  she  called  "  home,"  for  to 
her  little  affectionate  heart  any  where  was 
home  where  her  parents  stayed.  They 
were  walking  slowly  past  the  baggage 
wagons  when  to  his  surprise,  and  affright 
Guy  saw  a  puff  of  smoke,  issue  from  the 
back  part  of  the  one  in  which  he  usually 
slept.  He  instantly  remembered  the 
powder,  and  with  a  cry  dashed  toward  it, 
bidding  Aggie  run  as  far  as  possible  from 
the  danger.  There  was  no  water  near, 
but  he  caught  up  a  bag  of  flour,  sprang 


148  A    BOY'S    THIP 

into  the  wagon  and  dashed  it  upon  the 
flames,  then  another,  and  another.  Mean- 
while his  cries  had  brought  every  one  to 
the  spot,  James  Graham  brought  a  pail  of 
water  and  threw  upon  the  already  smoth- 
ered flames,  and  immediately  a  great 
sputtering,  and  kicking  was  heard,  and 
George  Harwood  sat  up  sleepily  and  de- 
manded what  they  were  pitching  into 
him  for. 

"  Get  up,"  said  his  father  who  was 
looking  very  pale  and  agitated,  u  Get  up 
and  thank  this  brave  boy  for  having  saved 
your  life.  If  it  had  not  beeir  for  him 
this  powder  would  have  exploded,  and 
launched  you,  and  we  know  not  how  many 
others  into  Eternity." 

George  saw  how  great  his  danger  had 
been,  and  with  shame  owned  that  he  had 
brought  it  upon  himself,  by  dropping 
fire  from  a  pipe  which  he  was  endeavoring 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  149 

to  learn  to  smoke,  in  express  disobedience 
of  his  father's  commands. 

He  turned  around  io  thank  Guy  for 
having  risked  his  own  life  to  save  his,  for 
that  he  had  undoubtedly  done  by  spring- 
ing into  the  burning  wagon,  but  found 
that  like  a  true  hero,  he  had  gone  to 
perform  another  duty,  waiting  neither 
for  thanks  or  praises.  But  he  got  both, 
for  as  he  lifted  little  Aggie  into  her 
mother's  wagon,  she  kissed  him  and 
whispered  "You  good,  brave  boy,  I  am 
going  to  ask  God  to  bless  you  all  your 
life" 


150  A   BOY'S   TRIP 


CHAPTER  X. 

"Well  now,  George,"  said  Aggie  the 
next  morning,  as  they  stood  near  the  par- 
tially burned  wagon  and  watched  Mr.  Har- 
wood  and  his  young  men,  as  they  hastily 
endeavored  to  repair  the  damage  that  had 
been  done,  "I  should  think  you  never 
would  smoke  again  in  your  life." 

"I  didn't  smoke  last  night,"  retorted 
George,  "  I  only  tried  to,  and  to  try  to 
smoke  and  to  do  it  are  two  very  different 
things,  I  can  tell  you,"  and  George  grim- 
aced most  comically  at  the  remembrance 
of  some  very  extraordinary  sensations  he 
had  experienced,  both  before  and  after  the 
fire. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  151 

"  If  you  don't  believe  me  you  can  try  it," 
lie  added,  as  Aggie  looked  at  him  thought- 

fully. 

"I  wasn't  thinking  of  what  you  were 
saying,"  she  replied,  "  but  of  what  a  hor- 
rible death  Guy  saved  you  from." 

"That's  a  fact,"  returned  George,  with 
much  seriousness.  "  Guy  ain't  a  bad  sort 
after  all!" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  a  Guy  Fawkes  about 
him,"  commented  Gus.  "  He  don't  be- 
lieve in  blowing  up  folks  with  gunpow- 
der." 

"  Nor  with  words  either,"  interrupted 
Aggie,  "  but  who  was  Guy  Fawkes,  Gus?" 

"Oh,  a  man  put  a  lot  of  gunpowder 
in  the  cellar  of  the  English  House  of  Con- 
gress." 

"  Of  Parliament,"  corrected  George. 

"  Of  Parliament,  then,  it  means  all  the 
same  tning,  and  he  intended  when  the 


152  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

King  and  all  the  members  of  Parliament 
were  in  the  house  to  set  fire  to  the  powder 
and  blow  them  all  up.  But  they  found 
out  the  plot  just  in  time,  and  Guy  was 
hung  up;  or  had  his  head  chopped  of,  I  for- 
get which." 

"  Good  for  him,"  said  George.  "  Hullo, 
here  comes  Guy,  looking  really  frightened 
for  once  in  his  life  !  What  is  the  matter, 
Guy?" 

But  Guy  made  him  no  answer,  but  hur- 
ried on  to  Mr.  Harwood  and  whispered  a 
few  words  in  his  ear. 

"You  don't  say  so!"  he  ejaculated  with 
a  startled  look.  "  Whereabouts  are  they  ?" 

"Back  of  the  camp,  sir.  Mr.  Graham 
says  he  thinks  they  are  after  the  cattle  and 
horses.  But  they  are  to  far  off  for  us  to 
see  them  plainly,  and  it  was  some  time  be- 
fore I  could  make  Mr.  Graham  believe 
they  Yv;ere  Indians  at  all." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  153 

"  Indians  1"  exclaimed  George  and  Gus, 
turning  pale,  and  with  out  more  ado,  rush- 
ing from  the  spot,  not  only  as  they  said  "  to 
tell  mother,"  but  to  gain  a  place  of  safety. 

"  Take  Aggie  to  the  wagon,"  said  Mr. 
Harwood  hastily,  though  he  could  not  help 
smiling  at  the  precipitate  flight  of  his 
boys.  "  Be  as  quick  as  you  can,  and  bring 
me  my  telescope." 

Guy  did  as  he  was  bidden,  but  although 
so  quickly  that  he  did  not  even  take  time 
to  say  a  few  words  of  encouragement  to 
Aggie.  He  found  the  telescope  was  little 
needed  when  he  gave  it  into  Mr.  Har- 
wood's  hands.  The  Indians  had  drawn  so 
close  that  their  movements  could  be  per- 
fectly seen. 

"  At  least  thirty  young  braves !"  said 
Mr.  Harwood  anxiously.  "A  party  of 
horse  thieves  no  doubt !  We  shall  have 
trouble  !" 


154:  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

"  And  all  on  account  of  this  unfortunate 
delay !''  exclaimed  Mr.  Graham.  "  We 
should  have  been  on  our  way  three  hours 
ago,  but  for  your  son's  carelessness." 

"That  is  very  true.  Yet  we  should 
scarcely  have  escaped  the  quick  eyes  of 
these  wild  savages." 

"We  will  try  to  save  the  oxen  and 
horses  from  their  hands  at  least !"  cried  a 
young  man,  turning  to  a  group  who  had 
hastily  armed  themselves. 

In  an  incredible  short  space  of  time 
they  had  made  a  circle  of  the  wagons, 
and  within  this  barricade  they  placed  the 
cattle,  and  stationed  themselves  at  regular 
distances  without  the  wagons.  Mr.  Har- 
wood  and  Mr.  Graham  stood  beside  the 
wagon  in  which  all  the  ladies  had  congre- 
gated, and  with  quiet,  though  great  anxiety, 
waited  for  the  attack  to  be  commenced. 
They  had  no  idea  that  it  could  be  avoided 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  155 

for  all  Mr.  HarwoocTs  signals,  during  the 
formation  of  the  barricade  had  been  to- 
tally disregarded,  and  the  savages  in  all 
the  hideousness  of  paint  and  warlike  deco- 
rations were  riding  rapidly  around  the 
cainp  in  a  gradually  decreasing  circle. 

"  Guy,  my  boy,  you  had  better  go  into 
our  wagon,"  said  Mr.  Harwood,  as  Guj, 
with  a  favorite  dog  at  his  side,  drew  near 
to  him.  Guy  looked  him  doubtfully  a 
moment,  and  with  visible  reluctance  pro- 
ceeded to  obey  the  direction  which  had 
been,  given  him.  Suddenly,  however,  he 
turned  back  and  with  an  appealing  look  at 
Mr.  Harwood  said : 

"  I  wish  you  would  give  me  a  gun,  sir, 
and  let  me  stay  here." 

"  Do  as  you  please,"  cried  Mr.  Harwood 
hastily,  and  Guy  rushed  to  a  wagon  for 
the  desired  weapon,  and  back  again  to  his 
place. 


156  A  BOY'S  TRIP 

Just  then  the  Indians  made  a  feint  of 
going  away.  They  retired  slowly  a  little 
way,  then  suddenly  wheeled,  and  gal- 
loped back  towards  the  carnp,  discharging 
a  volley  of  arrows  as  they  canae. 

Fortunately  they  injured  no  one,  but 
the  second  fire  was  not  so  harmless,  and 
was  returned  steadily  by  Mr.  Harwood 
and  his  men  from  their  rifles.  But  the 
Indians  were  too  far  off,  and  changed  their 
positions  too  often  to  be  affected  by  it. 

The  firing  continued  in  this  manner  for 
fifteen  minutes  or  more.  Two  of  Mr 
Harwood's  men  were  seriously  wounded, 
and  obliged  to  retire  to  the  wagons,  and 
the  others  were  eagerly  speaking  of  divi-1 
ding  into  two  parties,  one  of  which  was 
to  remain  to  guard  the  camp,  while  the 
other  sallied  out  to  drive  off  the  Indians. 
It  seemed  a  mad  undertaking,  as  Mr.  Har- 
wood said,  to  divide  so  small  a  force,  and 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  157 

they  were  spared  the  necessity  of  doing 
so  by  the  savages  themselves,  who  en- 
raged at  the  death  of  one  of  their  num- 
ber, and  confident  of  success,  rode  boldly 
up  to  the  very  sides  of  the  wagons,  and 
with  showers  of  arrows,  and  brandishing 
their  war-clubs,  uttering  at  the  same  time 
the  most  dreadful  yells,  endeavored  to 
overcome  the  white  men  and  gain  posses- 
sion of  the  animals,  that  snorting  and 
plunging  with  terror  at  the  unusual  rounds 
of  shouting  and  firing  were  striving  vainly 
to  break  their  bounds.  Terrible  was  the 
struggle  that  ensued.  For  a  few  minutes 
the  .shrieks  of  the  women  and  children, 
the  shouts  of  the  white  men,  the  yells  of 
the  Indians,  the  reports  of  fire-arms,  and 
the  indescribable  noises  made  by  the 
frightened  animals  filled  the  air. 

Guy  was  almost  stunned  with  the  noise 
and  bewildered  by  the  confusion  that  pre- 


158  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

vailed.  He  never  thought  of  firing  his 
gun,  and  had  no  idea  which  party  had 
the  advantage,  he,  in  fact,  felt  perfectly 
overwhelmed,  not  with  fear,  but  horror,  and 
quite  regardless  of  his  danger,  remained  an 
inactive  spectator  of  the  scene,  until  he  be- 
held Mr.  Harwood  struggling  violently  with 
an  Indian  who  had  thrown  himself  from  his 
horse  in  the  excitement  of  the  fight. 

Mr.  Harwood  was  himself  a  muscular 
man,  and  the  struggle  between  the  two 
was  terrible  to  witness.  For  a  minute 
neither  seemed  to  have  the  advantage,  then 
the  strong  Indian  got  his  arm  across  Mr. 
Harwood's  breast  and  held  him  back,  he 
raised  his  right  hand  in  which  glittered  a 
long  knife  already  stained  with  blood. 
Some  unusual  sound  for  a  moment  attract- 
ed the  savage's  attention,  he  glanced 
around.  Guy  seized  the  opportunity,  raised 
his  gun  and  fired. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  159 

He  was  not  knocked  over  by  the  shock, 
but  the  Indian  was.  Down  he  went,  and 
Mr.  Harwood  with  him,  but  only  to  re- 
main there  a  moment.  He  sprang  up  and 
echoed  the  shout  of  triumph  which  was 
heard  from  tBe  other  side  of  the  camp. 

The -fight  was  ended;  the  Indians  de- 
feated, away  they  sped  with  lightning  speed, 
bearing  their  wounded,  among  which  was 
Mr.  HarwoodV  special  adversary,  with 
them,  and  leaving  their  dead  upon  the 
ground. 

Of  these  there  were  two.  But  little 
notice  was  taken  of  them  at  first,  for  the 
members  of  the  train  were  too  busy  attend- 
ing to  the  wounded,  and  examining  their 
own  hurts,  to  think  of  Indians,  unless  it 
was  to  look  occasionally  to  satisfy  them- 
selves that  they  were  really  gone,  and  that 
there  was  no  farther  trouble  to  be  appre- 
hended from  them. 


160  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  I  wonder  who  it  was  that  knocked  that 
great  fellow  over  that  was  holding  me 
down,"  said  Mr.  Harwood,  after  he  had 
embraced  his  family,  and  assured  them  that 
he  was  very  little  hurt.  "  I  wish  I  knew 
who  it  was,  I  have  somebody  to  thank  for 
saving  my  life." 

"Here  is  the  fellow !"  cried  Gus,  catching 
Guy  as  he  was  about  to  jump  from  the 
wagon.  He  has  got  one  of  your  guns,  too, 
and  it  was  only  a  little  while  ago  you 
told  him  not  to  touch  them." 

"  Guy  !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Harwood,  "  can 
it  be  possible  that  you  fired  that  well-di- 
rected shot?"  ^v 

a  T  couldn't  help  it,  sir,  the  ball  seemed 
to  know  just  where  to  go,  and  the  gun  to 
shoot  of  itself,"  returned  Guy,  with  a 
slight  laugh — a  vain  attempt  to  hide  his 
emotion. 

Mr.  Harwood  made  no  effort  to  conceal 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  161 

his,  and  catching  him  in  his  arms  embraced 
him  warmly,  as  he  exclaimed  !  "  My  dear 
boy,  have  I  then  my  own  life  to  thank  you 
for,  as  well  as  that  of  my  son  ?  How  shall 
I  be  able  to  repay  you  ?" 

"Don't  say  any  more,"  entreated  Guy, 
who  was  being  nearly  suffocated  by  his 
mother,  Mr.  Harwood  and  the  children, 
who  were  pulling  him  hither  and  thither 
to  their  heart's  content. 

"  Why  didn't  you  shoot  his  head  right 
off?"  ask  George,  when  the  commotion  had 
slightly  subsided.  "  I  would  if  I  had  had 
a  gun,  and  been  in  your  place." 

"  But  you  weren't  at  all  likely  to  be  in 
his  place  or  any  other  where  arrows  were 
flying,"  interrupted  Gus,  with  a  laugh, 
which  quickly  subsided  into  a  smothered 
titter  as  George  looked  at  him,  with  the 
remark:  "You  had  better  mind  your 
bones." 


162  A    BOY'S  TRIP 

"I  intend  to,"  said  Gus,  coolly,  "but  you 
needn't  glare  at  me  so.  You're  not  a  Gorgon, 
I  guess,  and  can't  turn  me  into  stone  by 
a  look." 

"I  am  very  glad  Guy  didn't  knock  the 
Indian's  head  right  off,"  interposed  Aggie, 
anxious  to  prevent  a  quarrel  between  the 
two  boys. 

"Aren't  you  glad  of  it,  Guy,  you  wouldn't 
have  liked  to  have  killed  him  dead,  would 
you  r 

"  Oh  no  !"  returned  Guy,  laughing.  "  It 
anawered  my  purpose  just  to  kill  him  a 
little.  Indeed,"  he  added,  turning  pale  at 
the  thought,  "I  hope  the  poor  man  will 
not  die." 

"  Don't  trouble  yourself  about  that,"  said 
Mr.  Harwood,  taking  in  his  hand  the  gun 
which  Guy  had  still  retained,  but  then 
offered  him,  "  you  nobly  did  your  duty,  my 
boy,  and  though '  wre  will  hope  that  the 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  163 

man  will  recover,  we  will  not  worry,  be- 
cause we  cannot  learn  whether  he  does  or 
not." 

"I  say,  the  men  are  harnessing  the 
teams,"  exclaimed  George.  "  Let  us  go  and 
pick  up  some  -of  the  arrows  the  IndMis 
threw  around  so  plentifully." 

"Yes,"  answered  Guy,  "and  I'll  bring 
you  one,  Aggie." 

"Stay,"  said  Mr.  Harwood,  "Here,  Guy, 
is  a  more  fitting  weapon  for  you.  Take 
this  gun,  and  though  I  hope  you  may 
never  again  be  obliged  to  use  it  against  a 
fellow-creature,  I  hope  your  shots  will 
always  be  as  well  directed  as  that  of  to- 
day." 

"Whew!"  ejaculated  George,  "don't  I 
wish  I  had  knocked  that  fellow  over  to- 
day !  Guy,  why  don't  you  say  thank  you  ?" 

"  He's  like  the  little  boy  that  would  not 
say  'thank  you/  for  a  new  jack-knife," 


164  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

laughed  Gus,  "  he'd  rather  use  the  old  'un 
fust." 

In  truth,  Guy  was  so  delighted  with  Mr. 
Harwood's  words,  and  the  gift  that  accom- 
panied them,  that  he  knew  not  what  to 
say.  To  possess  a  gun,  had  long  been  his 
highest  and  most  secret  ambition,  and  to 
have  one,  really  his  own,  in  his  hands, 
seemed,  as  he  afterwards  said,  "far  too 
good  to  be  true." 

"Never  mind  the  thanks,"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Harwood,  as  Guy  vainly  tried  to  utter 
something,  "we  understand  each  other, 
though  my  debt  is  not  paid  yet.  You  can 
go  now  and  look  for  arrows,  if  you  like." 

But  Guy  thought  but  little  of  arrows,  or 
even  of  his  gun,  for  some  minutes  after  he 
left  the  wagon,  for  just  then  four  of  the 
mules,  who  had  not  recovered  from  their 
fright,  broke  away  from  the  men  who  were 
trying  to  quiet  them,  and  galloped  across 


ACROSS    THE   PLAINS.  165 

the  plains  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that 
the  Indians  had  taken.  Two  young  men 
immediately  mounted  the  swiftest  horses 
in  the  train  and  set  off  in  pursuit,  and  a 
fine  chase  they  had.  Over  an  hour  passed 
before  they  brought  the  refractory  animals 
back,  and  an  exciting  time  the  boys  had 
watching  the  race,  and  shouting  and  hur- 
rahing when  the  foaming,  panting  creatures 
rushed  into  the  camp,  followed  by  their 
almost  breathless  pursuers. 

"  But  this  isn't  finding  arrows !"  said 
Guy,  at  last,  suddenly  remembering  Aggie, 
and  the  promise  he  had  made  her.  And, 
after  the  train  was  in  motion,  he  found 
two  beautiful  arrows,  and  took  them  to 
her.  She  accepted  them  with  delight,  tell- 
ing Guy  she  would  keep  them  all  her  life, 
in  remembrance  of  that  eventful  day. 
"And  so  you  see,"  she  added,  addressing 
in  fancy  the  cross  old  chief  that  had  fright- 


166  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

ened  her  so  terribly,  "  I  have  got  one  of 
your  Indian  arrows,  after  all,  and  I'll  keep 
it  too.  My  good  Guy  has  got  a  gun  now, 
and  that's  more  than  you  have,  and  he 
knows  how  to  use  it,  that's  more  than  you 
will  ever  do." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  167 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Two  weeks  after  the  fight  with  the 
Indians,  Guy  was  galloping  across  the 
gently  rising  hills,  that  denoted  their  ap- 
proach to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  quest 
of  game.  This  was  the  first  time  he  had 
had  an  opportunity  offered  him  to  try  his 
gun,  as  they  had  seen  no  living  creature 
upon  the  desert  of  alkali  which  they  had 
occupied  more  than  a  week  in  crossing, 
and  "but  few  among  the  prickly  pears  and 
sage*-brush  that  succeeded  the  poisonous 
salts.  Of  the  effects  of  the  latter,  each 
member  of  the  party  had  had  some  expe- 
rience, and  all,  for  weeks  after,  complained 
of  sore  lips,  chapped  hands,  and  other 
pains  of  a  like  nature. 


1(58  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

Guy  was  greatly  troubled  to  find  that 
little  Aggie  and  his  mother  were  the 
greatest  sufferers.  Indeed,  the  latter  be- 
came so  very  ill  that,  for  two  or  three 
days,  Guy  feared  he  should  soon  be 
motherless.  Never  had  his  heart  been  so 
heavy  as  during  that  time.  It  was  a  good 
thing  for  him  that  he  was  obliged  to  work 
additionally  hard,  else  he  might  also  have 
fallen  ill  from  excessive  grief.  But,  as  it 
was,  he  tad  no  time  to  give  way  to  his 
feeling :  there  was  his  mother's  duties  and 
his  own,  to  be  performed  by  his  hands 
alone ;  little  Aggie  to  be  amused,  and  his 
mother  often  to  be  cheered  by  some  gay 
word,  when  he  usually  felt  much  more 
like  uttering  sad  ones. 

I  have  mentioned  before  that  Mrs. 
Loring,  though  a  very  good  woman,  was 
often  inclined  to  look  on  the  dark  side  of 
things,  and  so  it  sometimes  happened  that 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  169 

I 

she  led  Guy  to  do  the  same,  and  he  cer- 
tainly did  so  steadily  enough  during  the 
days  his  mother  lay  seriously  ill,  while  he 
turned  to  the  bright  side  instantly  when 
she  pronounced  herself  better,  though  he 
did  not  for  a  moment  neglect  to  pay  her 
the  same  attention  as  before. 

One  morning,  when  she,  for  the  first 
time,  gathered  strength  and  energy  enough 
to  sit  up,  Mr.  Harwood  entered  the  wagon, 
and  laughingly  told  her  that  as  she  was  so 
well,  he  should  not  let  her  have  Guy  to 
herself  any  longer,  but  should  take  him 

with  them  to  hunt  some  deer  that  were 

• 

feeding  on  the  hills  some  distance  away. 
Guy  looked  at  his  mother  and  hesitated, 
for  though  he  desired,  above  all  things,  to 
take  part  in  a  deer  hunt,  he  did  not  like  to 
leave  his  sick  mother,  until  she  said :  "  Go, 
my  child,  you  are  looking  pale  and  thin 
already,  the  excitement  w^l  do  you  good. 


170  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

It  would  never  do  for  you  to  get  sick,  you 
know."  And  that  was  how  Guy  Loring 
happened  to  be  galloping  across  the  hills 
with  Mr.  Harwood  and  Mr.  Graham,  while 
George  and  Gus  remained  at  the  camp, 
enviously  watching  him.  By  some  skillful 
maneuvering,  they  managed  to  approach 
within  gun-shot  of  the  deer,  of  which  there 
were  five  or  six,  brousing  quietly.  Guy 
was  very  much  excited,  and  would  have 
fired  upon  them  had  not  Mr.  Harwood  told 
him  not  to  do  so  until  the  last. 

Slowly,  and  with  as  much  patience  as 
they  could  command,  they  drew  nearer  and 
nearer  the  deer.  Mr.  Graham  and  Mr. 
Harwood  raised  their  rifles  to  fire,  when 
suddenly  'the  whole  herd  of  deer  threw 
their  heads  in  the  air,  looked  around  wild- 
ly, and  bounded  away  with  the  speed  of 
the  wind. 

"  What  in  the  world  could  have  startled 


ACROSS    THE    PLAIN'S.  171, 

them  so  ?"  exclaimed  the  gentlemen  in  sur- 
prise. 

Guy  looked  around  in  perfect  dismay  at 
having  lost  the  chance  of  firing  at  a  deer,  '* 
and  quickly  exclaimed :  "  Oh,  how  provok- 
ing, it  is  the  cattle.'    They  have  let  the 
cattle  loose." 

Mr.  Graham  uttered  an  exclamation  of 
delight,  "  Was  there  ever  such  good  luck 
before  ?"  he  cried,  "  Those  are  buffaloes  ! 
I  had  no  idea  we  should  find  them  here  so 
early.  Gallop  back  to  the  camp,  Guy,  and 
tell  the  Fraziers  !  Hurrah !" 

Scarcely  less  excited  than  Mr.  Graham, 
Guy  made  a  wide  circuit  of  the  spot  where 
the  herd  of  buffaloes,  from  twenty  to  thirty 
in  numbor,  were  feeding,  and  galloped  to 
the  camp,  where  he  found  five  or  six  young 
men,  already  armed  and  mounted  for  the 
chase.  They  hastily  advised  Guy  to  re- 
main in  camp,  but  as  he  had  received  no 


172  -A.    BOY'S    TRIP 

direction  to  do  so  from  Mr.  Harwood,  he 
followed  his  inclinations,  and  returned  with 
the  young  men  to  the  spot  where  Mr.  Gra- 
ham and  Mr.  Harwood  were  anxiously 
awaiting  them. 

All  this  time  the  buffaloes  continued  to 
feed  without  taking  the  least  notice  of  the 
hunters.  These  after  a  short  consultation, 
began  to  ride  gently  towards  them.  The 
animals  remained  so  quiet  that  Guy  had 
an  opportunity  to  look  at  them  carefully 
He  was  surprised  to  find  that  they  were 
not  as  large  as  elephants,  but  on  the  con- 
trary about  the  size  of  a  cow,  which  animal 
they  closely  resembled  in  the  shape  of  their 
bodies,  and  limbs ;  but  their  hair,  instead  of 
being  of  the  same  length  all  over  their  body, 
grew  in  shaggy  tufts  upon  the  back  and 
sides,  and  lengthened  into  a  sweeping  mane 
upon  the  neck.  This  adornment  took 
from  them  the  peaceful  expression  of  the 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  173 

majority  of  our  domestic  cattle,  and  gave 
them  instead  the  terrible  one  of  the  un- 
tamed lion.  This  effect  was  increased  by 
the  wild  glare  of  their  eyes.  Guy  did  not 
at  first  notice  their  horns,  which  were 
small,  and  almost  imbedded  in  their  thick, 
woolly  hair,  but  it  did  not  need  a  second 
look  to  assure  him  that  they  could  do  a 
great  deal  of  harm,  if  once  called  into 
service.  The  hunters  approached  the  buf- 
faloes in  a  semi-circle,  Guy  occupied  a  place 
near  the  circle  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Harwood, 
who  unwilling  to  disappoint  him  by  send- 
ing him  back  to  the  camp,  had  permitted 
him  to  stay.  The  whole  party  got  within 
a  hundred  feet  of  the  buffaloes  before  they 
were  even  discovered.  Then  an  immense 
fellow  who  seemed  the  leader  of  the  herd, 
began  to  bellow,  and  tear  up  the  earth 
with  his  hoofs,  and  in  a  moment,  the  whole 
herd  were  coursing  over  the  prairie  at  a 


174:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

pace,  which  Guy,  when  looking  at  their 
heavy  bodies,  had  never  imagined  them 
capable  of. 

"After  them!"  shouted  Mr.  Graham, 
and  instantly  the  hunters  spurred  on  their 
horses  many  of  which  were  used  to  the 
sport,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Guy,  who  was 
poorly  mounted  was  left  some  distance  in 
the  rear,  while  the  foremost  of  the  horse- 
men were  at  the  very  heels  of  the  flying 
herd.  The  dust  of  the  prairie  began  to 
rise  from  beneath  their  hoofs  in  clouds, 
through  which  Guy  could  indistinctly  see 
the  buffaloes  dashing  forward,  one  turning 
occasionally  upon  some  audacious  man  who 
had  fired  upon  him,  who  would  then  wheel 
his  horse  quickly  and  escape  from  the  reach 
of  the  infuriated  animal,  which  would  con- 
tinue its  flight  or  fall  to  the  earth,  with  a 
terrible  bellow. 

Guy  had  witnessed  three  or   four  such 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  175 

falls,  and  in  his  excitement  scarcely  know- 
ing what  he  did,  went  up  to  the  foaming 
animal  intending  to  put  it  out  of  its  misery 
by  a  shot  from  his  gun,  when,  suddenly,  it 
rose  to  its  feet,  staggered  forward,  and  ere 
Guy  could  wheel  his  frightened  horse, 
plunged  his  horns  into  his  breast,  and 
buffalo,  horse  and  rider  rolled  upon  the 
plain  together. 

Then  succeeded  a  horrible  moment,  in 
which  Guy  felt  himself  crushed  by  his 
plunging  horse,  and  heard  the  cries  of  the 
men,  the  bellowing  of  the  wounded  buf- 
falo, the  thunderlike  noise  of  the  retreating 
herd,  and  the  sharp  crack  of  half  a  dozen 
rifles.  Then  he  felt  himself  lifted  from  the 
ground  by  Mr.  Graham  and  Mr.  Harwood, 
who  exclaimed  that  it  was  a  miracle  tha-t 
he  was  alive,  and  asked  him  if  he  wasn't 
killed,  and  then  shouted  out  for  somebody 
to  go  in  pursuit  of  the  horse,  which  was 


176  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

galloping  away  in  the  opposite  direction 
to  the  buffaloes,  which  were  suffered  to  de- 
part without  any  further  attempt  being 


made  to  slaughter  them. 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  177 


CHAPTEK  XII. 

Guy  was  surprised  and  delighted  to  find 
that  his  fool-hardy  escapade  had  brought 
upon  him  no  injury  except  a  few  bruises, 
which,  however,  did  not  prevent  him  from 
assisting  the  men  to  take  into  carnp  the 
carcasses  of  the  three,  buffaloes  they  had 
slain. 

That  proved  a  busy  afternoon  in  the 
camp.  The  buffaloes  were  skinned,  and 
their  shaggy  hides  hung .  up  in  the  sun  to 
dry.  Then  the  choicest  parts  of  the  bodies 
were  cut  up  and  salted,  and  the  rest  left 
to  the  hungry  wolves,  who  are  the  natural 
enemies  of  the  buffalo — one  of  which, 
when  wounded,  they  will  often  follow,  and 
harrass  to  death. 

8* 


178  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

And  what  a  splendid  supper  of  buffalo 
steak  they  had.  Guy  fancied  he  never 
had  tasted  anything  so  delicious,  though 
George,  in  his  usual  contradictory  mood, 
declared  he  thought  beef  much  nicer.  But 
as  no  one  paid  any  attention  to  him,  his 
opinion  had  not  much  effect,  and  no  one 
enjoyed  the  supper  the  less  for  it. 

As  only  a  slight  sketch  of  Guy's  won- 
derful escape  had  been  given  by  Harwood 
upon  his  return  to  camp,  the  children  were 
anxious  to  hear  a  full  account  of  it,  and  as 
soon  as  the  dishes  were  washed,  the  fuel 
for  the  night  brought  in  and  Guy  was  at 
liberty  to  take  his  usual  seat  by  the  fire, 
they  called  upon  him  to  tell  them  all  about 
it.  He  did  so  in  as  few  words  as  possible, 
for  he  felt  as  much  ashamed  of  his  discom- 
fiture as  an  old  hunter  might  have  been 
likely  to  do. 

Aggie  looked  very  serious  after  hearing 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  179 

the  account  of  her  favorite's  danger.  George 
laughed  as  he  thought  of  the  figure  Guy 
must  have  cut  when  pitched  from  his  horse 
over  the  back  of  the  buffalo ;  and  Gus  with 
great  earnestness  asked  him  what  he  thought 
of  at  the  time  it  all  happened. 

u  I  saw  and  heard  too  much  to  think  of 
anything,"  replied  Guy,  quite  unable  to 
repress  a  laugh  at  Gus'  question  and  eager 
look,  "  the  first  thing  I  thought  of  when 
Mr.  Graham  took  me  from  the  ground  was 
to  clear  the  sand  from  my  nose,  eyes,  and 
mouth.  If  you  had  seen  me  you  would 
have  fancied  I  had  been  burrowing  in  the 
dirt  for  a  twelve  month.  After  that  I 
was  very  thankful  that  I  escaped  so  well, 
and  on  the  way  home  I  recalled  to  mind 
almost  everything  I  had  ever  read  about 
buffaloes>  and  among  other  things  a  mode 
in  which  the  Indians  hunt  them,  and  which 


180  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

is  described  in  the  adventures  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke." 

"  Who  were  Lewis  and  Clarke  ?"  asked 
Gus. 

'•  Two  men,  who  in  the  days  of  Wash- 
ington and  Jefferson,  and  chiefly  by  the 
aid  of  the  latter,  headed  a  party  of  men, 
who  were  the  first  to  explore  Oregon,  and 
discover  the  rise  of  the  Columbia  and 
Missouri  Rivers." 

"What  fun  they  must  have  had,"  ex- 
claimed George,  "  among  the  Indians  that 
had  never  seen  a  white  man  before/7 

"  They  were  so  constantly  surrounded  by 
dangers,"  said  Guy,  "  that  I  guess  they 
found  the  fun  rather  scarce.  But  they 
had  a  great  many  exciting  adventures 
among  the  Indians,  and  learned  many  of 
their  strange  habits." 

"  Well,  you  were  going  to  tell  us  about 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  181 

a  way  they  had  of  hunting  buffaloes,"  inter- 
rupted Gus.  "  How  was  it  ?" 

"  Well,  first  they  would  find,  either  by 
accident  or  after  a  search,  a  herd  of  buf- 
faloes, grazing  on  a  plateau,  perhaps  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  above  the  river,  for 
such  are  very  often  found  a  mile  or  more 
in  length  along  the  Columbia  or  Missouri 
Rivers,  which  abruptly  terminate,  forming 
a  precipice  so  perfectly  perpendicular  that 
neither  man  or  beast  can  gain  a  foothold 
on  their  sides. 

"  Toward  this  precipice  a  young  warrior 
wrapped  in  a  buffalo  robe,  and  crowned 
with  the  head  and  horns,  decoys  the  game, 
while  the  others  chase  them  forward,  rid- 
ing their  swiftest  horses,  bearing  their  best 
arms,  and  uttering  their  wildest  shouts. 
The  whole  herd  maddened  by  the  hunters, 
will  usually  follow  the  decoy — their  fancied 
leader — when  suddenly  he  will  hide  be- 


182  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

neath  some  cliff,  the  buffaloes  will  rush  on, 
seeing  no  danger  ahead,  or  unable  to  check 
their  headlong  career,  and  thus  very  often 
a  hundred  or  more  will  spring  over  the 
precipice,  and  be  dashed  to  pieces  on  the 
rocks  below." 

"  Good  !"  cried  George,  excitedly. 

"  And  just  think  then  what  a  good  time 
the  Indians  have  picking  up  the  pieces," 
commented  Gus,  I'd  like  to  see  them  do  it. 
Just  think  of  two  or  three  hundred  Indians 
all  at  work  together,  jerking  the  meat,  and 
shouting  and  dancing." 

"Ah,  yes.  That's  all  very  well!"  said 
Aggie,  thoughtfully.  But  I  wouldn't  like 
so  much  to  be  the  decoy.  Suppose  he 
couldn't  hide  in  time." 

"  Sometimes  he  can't,"  said  Guy,  "  and 
in  that  case  he  is  trodden  under  foot  by 
the  herd,  or  carried  with  them  over  the 
precipice.  I  am  like  you,  Aggie,  I  shouldn't 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  183 

like  to  "be  the  decoy.  It  is  bad  enough  to 
face  one  buffalo,  and  I  have  no  wish  to  try 
a  hundred." 

"  Oh,  dear  !"  exclaimed  Aggie,  "  I  should 
die   with   fright   if  I  were  to  meet  even 


one." 


"  Oh !  That's  because  you  are  nothing 
but  a  girl — but  boys — !"-.  George  left  his 
sentence  unfinished,  for  of  late  he  had  be- 
come very  careful  of  boasting  before  Guy, 
whom  he  knew  was  too  well  acquainted 
with  him  to  be  deceived  by  empty  words. 

"  Girls,  or  no  girls  !"  exclaimed  Aggie,  a 
little  angrily,  "  I  learned  those  verses 
mamma  gave  us,  to-day,  while  you  don't 
know  them  at  all !" 

"  Verses  are  only  made  for  girls !"  an- 
swered George,  contemptuously. 

"  And  for  some  boys,"  said  Guy,  "  I  for 
one  like  to  hear  them.  What  are  yours 
about  Aie  ?" 


184  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  Listen  !  They  are  about 

4  THE   CHILDREN  IN   THE   SKY.' 

*' Little  Allie,  tired  with  roaming, 

Fell  asleep  one  summer  day ; 
In  the  soft,  and  mellow  gloaming, 

That  the  fairies  haunt,  they  say. 
And,  into  her  dream,  there  came  then 

Fays,  or  Angels  pure  and  fair, 
Tilling  all  the  lonesome  glen 

"With  sweet  music,  rich  and  rare. 

"  *  Child!7  they  said,  as  slow  around  her 

One  by  one  they  floated  on, 
1  Look  into  the  clearer  ether, 

Close  beside  the  setting  son  !' 
Then  she  looked,  and  lo !  the  cloudlets 

Parted  back  and  showed  her  there, 
Myriad  angels,  sinless  spirits 

Sporting  in  a  garden  fair. 

"  Sporting,  smiling,  fondly  twining, 

Round  each  other  snow  white  arms; 
While  a  halo  o'er  them  shining, 

Saved  them  from  the  night's  alarms. 
Loud  they  sung  in  notes  of  gladness, 

Ever  o'er  the  sweet  refrain  ; 
*  Jesus  loves  us!  -we  shall  never 

Lose  His  tender  care  again." 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  185 

"  *  Here  the  flow'rets  bloom  forever ; 

Here  the  sun  of  God  doth  shine ; 
Here  doth  flow  the  crystal  river, 

Giving  all  a  life  divine !' 
Then  the  peerless  vision  faded, 

And  the  fairies  stole  away  ; 
All  the  dell  with  gloom  was  shaded, 

Darkness  'round  sweet  Allie  lay. 

"  Then  she  woke  from  out  her  slumber, 
And  she  said — within  her  heart — 

'  Shall  I  join  that  happy  number  ? 
In  their  joyous  song  take  part?' 

Then  she  prayed  that  God  would  lead  her 

•   In  the  path  to  heaven  above, 

And  that  she  might  dwell  forever 
Blessed  by  Christ's  redeeming  love. 

"  And  before  the  year  was  over, 

God  in  love  gave  back  reply, — 
For  He  led  the  little  rover, 

To  the  children  in  the  sky." 

"  That  is  a  sweet  little  tale,"  said  Guy, 
when  Aggie  had  finished,  "  But  it  is  al- 
most a  pity  such  a  good  little  girl  should 
die." 


186  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"Buf  the  good  little  girls,  in  stories, 
always  do  die  !"  exclaimed  George,  "  And 
that  is  why  I  don't  like  to  hear  about 
them.  That's  the  reason,  too,  that  I  tease 
our  Aggie  so,  I  want  to  get  her  into  a 
passion  so  she  won't  get  too  good  and  be 
spirited  out  of  the  world  right  away." 

They  all  laughed  at  this  ingenious  de- 
fense ;  and  then  as  Guy  declared  himself 
very  tired,  and  quite  stiff  and  sore  from 
the  number  of  bruises  upon  his  body,  they 
soon  separated  for  the  night,  and  ere  long 
all  was  still  about  the  camp,  except  the 
fires  that  flickered  and  blazed,  as  if  in  deri- 
sion of  the  calm  night,  and  its  heavy-eyed 
attendant — Sleep. 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  187 


CHAPTEE    XIV. 

THE  following  Saturday  night  found 
the  party  encamped  in  the  very  bosom  of 
the  mountains,  in  one  of  the  most  lovely 
nooks  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth.  As 
they  looked  around  upon  the  verdant  dell, 
and  upon  the  snow-capped  mountains  that 
arose  in  the  distance,  all  the  arid  plain 
they  had  passed, — the  desert  of  alkali, 
and  the  hills  .of  sand — seemed  like  a 
dream,  so  great  was  the  contrast  between 
them  and  Virginia  Dale.  Even  George 
was  enraptured,  and  when  the  children 
as  usual  gathered  at  evening  around  the 
fire,  he  declared  that  he  wrould  go  no 
father  but  turn  hermit,  and  hunt  and 
fish  for  a  living,  in  that  lovely  spot. 


188  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

"I  wish  I  could  stay  with  you,"  said 
Aggie,  "  but  I  should'nt  like  to  leave  papa 
and  mamma.  But  only  look  at  the  moon 
rising  above  that  snowy  peak ;  isn't  it 
perfectly  lovely  3" 

"  Watching  the  moon  is  all  very  well  ?" 
exclamed  Gus,  "  but  I  would  much  rather 
hear  a  good  story.  This  is  the  very  night 
for  a  story,  and  a  sentimental  one  at  that. 
Guy  get  your  thinking-cap  on,  that's  a 
good  fellow  !" 

"Oh  yes,  do  !"  assented  Aggie. 

"  I  have  had  it  tightly  drawn  over  my 
ears  the  whole  time  I  have  been  sitting 
here,"  answered  Guy  laughing,  "and  the 
result  is  that  I  have  been  thinking  of  a 
story  the  Indians  tell  about  the  first 
snow  storm." 

"  Oh  yes !  put  it  all  off  on  the  Indians !" 
cried  Gus,  "  we  all  know  what  that  means  1" 

"  Well,  what  do  they  say  ?"  asked  George,    . 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  189 

"that  they  thought  it  was  salt,  and  put  it 
into  their,  soup,  and  were  surprised  to  find 
that  it  made  it  watery — and  nothing 
more  ?" 

"Now  don't  tease  Guy,"  interrupted 
Aggie,  "  I  want  to  know  what  the  Indians 
really  did  say,  and  where  the  first  fall  of 
snow  really  was." 

"According  to  my  authority/'  answered 
Guy,  gravely,  "  it  took  place  among  these 
very  mountains.  Years,  years  ago,  so 
many  years  that  all  rememberance  of  the 
time  is  now  lost,  and  only  vague  reports 
of  it  remain,  the  snowy  mountains  we 
now  see  were  covered  with  verdure,  even 
more  luxuriant  than  that  which  makes 
this  vale  so  beautiful.  The  long  leaves, 
and  the  shining  silk  of  the  corn  waved 
in  the  breeze  that  softly  played  about  the 
lofty  summits,  lovely  flowers  opened,  and 
rich  fruits  ripened  in  the  warm  sunshine 


190  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

that  ever  fell  upon  them.  The  bounding 
deer  came  to  the  very  doors  of.  the  wig- 
wams that  were  so  thickly  placed  that 
they  seemed  to  form  a  vast  city,  and  the 
very  trout  in  the  sparkling  streams  leaped 
into  the  hands  of  the  happy  people  that 
inhabited  this  earthly  paradise !" 

"Gracious,  what  a  saving  of  fishing- 
tackle  !"  ejaculated  George. 

Guy  took  no  notice  of  this  irreverent 
remark,  but  continued : 

"  On  the  very  summit  of  yonder  peak, 
which  seems  to  rise  at  least  a  thousand 
feet  above  its  neighbors,  and  where  the 
sun  shone  the  warmest,  the  grains  and 
fruits  were  most  luxuriant,  and  the  deer 
larger  and  tamer  than  in  any  other  place, 
lived  an  old  man,  the  chief  of  all  the 
tribes  that  lived  between  the  mountains 
and  the  great  ocean  in  the  far  west.  The 
oldest  men  among  the  Indians  could  not 


ACKOSS    THE    PLAINS.  191 

remember  when  he  was  young,  and  their 
great-grandfathers  had  told  them  that  he 
was  old  when  they  were  children.  His 
"beard  was  like  silver,  and  his  face  bore  the 
marks  of  that  wisdom  which  can  only  come 
with  age,  yet  his  form  was  not  bent,  and 
his  eyes  were  as  strong  as  the  eagle's,  that 
soars  up  and  looks  in  the  face  of  the  sun.'7 

"  Wonderful  man  !"  said  Gus. 

"He  was  indeed  wonderful,  and  the 
wisest  man  upon  the  earth ;  he  knew  all 
secrets  of  the  land,  and  sea,  and  air,  and 
from  them  he  had  gained  the  elixir  that 
still  kept  the  blood  warm  in  his  veins 
after  the  lapse  of  centuries,  but  he  could 
not  get  from  them  contentment, — his  soul 
at  last  wearied  of  the  habit  of  clay  it  had 
worn  so  long,  and  he  began  a  search  for 
one  worthy  to  be  the  inheritor  of  his  wis- 
dom, and  the  successor  of  his  power,  that 
he  might  lie  down  and  be  at  rest. 


192  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"He  found  one  at  length,  but  not 
among  the  young  men  of  his  tribe,  among 
whom  he  sought  long  and  patiently.  The 
strength  of  mind,  the  purity  of  soul  he 
desired,  were  found  only  in  the  person  of 
a  lovely  girl,  the  daughter  of  one  of  the 
bravest  warriors  of  the  mountains.  To 
her  he  gave  the  elixir  of  life,  and  in- 
structed her  in  all  the  secrets  he  had 
gained.  Lastly,  he  took  off  the  robe  he 
wore,  and  putting  it  upon  her,  led  her  out 
of  the  wigwam  and  declared  her  a  priestess 
before  all  the  people.  Soon  after  the 
great  magician  became  a  decrepit  old 
man,  the  weight  of  his  years  came  upon 
him  and  he  died,  and  his  body  was  laid 
upon  a  burning  pile  and  consumed  to 
ashes,  while  all  the  people  mourned  around 
it.  Then  the  priestess  went  to  her  wig- 
wam on  the  high  mountains  and  sat  down 
and  thought  of  the  last  words  the  dead 


ACROSS   TEE    PLAINS.  193 

man  had  said  to  her,  '  Beware  of  him 
who  reigneth  at  the  northernmost  part  of 
the  earth,  for  if  thou  showest  weakness  or 
any  human  passion  he  will  have  dominion 
over  thee  and  all  thy  people/  But  years 
passed  on  and  no  human  feeling  agitated 
her.  She  lived  alone  communing  with 
spirits,  and  at  sundry  times  appearing 
among  the  people  to  astonish  them  by  her 
wisdom  which  as  years  advanced,  become 
a  thousand  times  more  potent  than  had 
been  that  of  the  old  magician.  And  as 
her  wisdom  increased  so  also  did  her 
beauty.  Spirits  came  and  took  the  ebony 
from  her  hair,  and  covered  it  with  gold ; 
they  brought  blue  from  the  skies  and 
prisoned  it  in  her  eyes;  the  white  stars 
laid  their  light  upon  her  face,  and  sun- 
beams rendered  her  smile  so  warm  and 
tender  that  it  gladdened  all  upon  whom  it 
fell. 


194:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  As  I  have  said,  she  was  troubled  by  no 
human  feeling ;  but  alas  !  she  inspired  what 
she  did  not  feel,  for  all  the  young  braves 
worshipped  her,  not  only  as  a  priestess, 
but  as  a  peerless  maiden,  ancl  all  their  awe 
could  not  destroy  their  love.  As  she 
knew  every  thing,  she  was  of  course 
aware  of  their  silent  devotion,  but  she 
laughed  in  the  solitude  of  her  wigwam, 
and  sang: 

4  Alstarnah  must  no  passion  own, 
That  mortal  e'er  before  hath  known.7 

"  And  this  she  would  sing  over  and  over 
to  herself,  that  she  might  keep  the  words 
of  the  magician  in  mind.  But  after  the 
lapse  of  many  years,  she  one  day  ceased 
to  sing,  for  Alstarnah  felt  the  most  power- 
ful of  all  human  passions — she  loved." 

"I'm  glad  of  that!"  ejaculated  Gus, 
"just  paid  her  out  for  keeping  up  that 
rnontonous  drone  so  long.'' 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  195 

"  Oil !  don't  interrupt !"  cried  Aggie, 
impatiently,  "  who  did  she  love,  Guy  ?" 

"The  young  chief,  Gervassen,  who  had 
come  many  thousand  miles  from  the  burn- 
ing plains  of  the  far  south,  to  behold  the 
renowned  priestess  of  the  mountains.  As 
Alstarnah  excelled  all  women  in  beauty 
and  wisdom,  so  did  he  all  men  in  beauty 
and  strength.  He  was  as  tall  and  slender 
as  the  mountain  pine,  and  his  face  was  as 
fair  to  look  upon  as  the  great  star  that 
hung  above  the  North  King's  palace. 
He  came  to  the  mountains  with  great 
pomp,  for  a  thousand  of  his  enemies  pur- 
sued him,  and  he  slew  them  all  with  the 
masses  of  rock  that  he  hurled  down  upon 
them.  See,  there  they  lie  now  like 
mighty  castles  in  ruins. 

"When  the  priestess,  Alstarnah,  saw  this 
man  she  thought  no  more  of  the  magician's 
words  or  of  her  own  power,  but  gloried  in 


196  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

the  beauty  that  had  been  given  her,  and 
said,  '  He  will  surely  love  me,  for  there  is 
not  upon  all  the  earth  a  woman  as  fair/ 

'And  her  words  were  true,  Gervassen  did 
love  her,  and  more  bold  than  all  the  rest, 
entreated  her  to  be  his  wife.  With  great 
joy  she  placed  her  hand  in  his,  but  at  the 
moment  she  was  about  to  speak,  she  felt 
an  icy  wind  blow  over  her  and  a  voice  ex- 
claim :  '  Beware  of  the  King  of  the  North ! 
Pity  thy  people !' 

"  She  fled  to  her  wigwam  in  terror,  and 
for  days  refused  to  admit  the  chieftain, 
who  stood  without  pleading  for  an  answer 
but  at  length  she  ventured  to  glance  at 
him  through  a  tiny  hole  in  the  buffalo 
hide  that  formed  the  walls  of  her  tent,  and 
in  an  instant  all  her  love  for  her  people 
and  all  fear  of  the  warning  voice  vanished, 
and  she  promised  to  be  Gervassen's  bride. 

"Again  came  the  icy  wind  and  the  voice, 


ACROSS   THE   PLAINS.  197 

* 

but  so  infatuated  was  slie  that  they  failed 
to  turn  her  from  her  purpose,  although  her 
lover  asked  the  meaning  of  them.  She 
trembled  as  she  told  him  that  years  before 
there  had  been  a  tremendous  battle  waged 
between  the  King  of  the  North  and.  the 
forces  of  the  great  magician.  That  the 
latter  had  finally  triumphed,  after  a  ter- 
rible struggle,  and  after  yielding  one  im- 
portant point  to  his  enemy,  which  was, 
that  if  the  magician  or  any  of  his  successors 
yielded  to  human  passion,  the  help  of  the 
spirits  should  be  withdrawn  from  them, 
and  their  dominion  and  people  left  to  the 
power  of  the  terrible  North  King. 

" '  It  cannot  be  that  he  exists/  returned 
the  warrior,  'else  he  would  have  endeav- 
ored to  enter  the  land  over  which  my  tribe 
is  scattered,  and  never,  never  has  one  of 
his  subjects  been  seen  or  heard  of  upon 

it; 


198  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  In  spite  of  all  her  wisdom,  this  reasoning 
of  Gervassen  convinced  Alstarnah,  who 
soon  after  stood  up  before  all  the  people 
and  bade  them  farewell,  saying  that  she 
was  going  to  dwell  in  the  wigwam  of  the 
mighty  chieftain,  Gervassen. 

"  Then  she  took  her  lover's  hand  and  be- 
gan the  descent  of  the  charmed  mountain, 
followed  by  all  her  people,  who  were 
weeping  and  wailing,  and  entreating  that 
she  would  come  back  to  them.  But  still 
she  went  on,  but  only  slowly,  because  of 
the  great  press  of  people  around  her;  and 
suddenly  an  icy  wind  passed  over  them, 
and  all  fell  to  the  earth  shivering  and 
terror-stricken,  for  they  had  never  felt  cold 
before,  and  they  looked  up  to  the  moun- 
tain, and  lo !  upon  the  very  summit,  at  the 
door  of  the  deserted  wigwam,  stood  a 
terrible  figure,  clothed  in  white,  and  having 
a  face  as  white  as  his  robes,  and  his  hair 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  199 

was  like  the  long  crystals  that  hang  from 
the  roofs  of  caves  that  the  water  goes 
through,  and  his  eyes  were  like  two  great 
diamonds,  white,  yet  blazing  like  the  sun. 
Over  his  head  he  waved  a  sceptre,  and  as 
fast  as  he  waved,  great  flakes  of  whiteness 
came  out  of  the  clouds  and  covered  all  the 
mountain  tops,  and  came  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  frightened  people. 

"<It  is  the  terrible  North  King,'  they 
cried.  'See,  he  is  throwing  his  arrows 
upon  us.7 

"'I  will  return,'  cried  Alstarnah,  filled 
with  remorse.  'I  will  return  and  save 
my  people.' 

"  But  once  more  she  heard  the  voice  as 
it  wailed  '  Too  late  !  too  late !'  and  the  icy 
wind  came  and  arrested  her  returning  foot- 
steps, for  it  chilled  her  to  ice  by  the  side 
of  Gervassen,  for  whom  she  had  dared  so 
much.  Then  he  antT  all  the  people  were 


200  &   BOY'S    TRIP 

* 

filled  with  still  greater  terror  and  turned 
to  flee  down  the  mountains,  but  the  snow 
flakes—the  deadly  arrows  of  the  North 
King,  came  faster  and  faster,  falling  before 
as  well  as  behind  them,  clogging  the  feet 
and  chilling  the  life-blood  of  the  people 
Alstarnah  had  betrayed. 

"  First,  Gervassen  fell,  almost  at  the  side 
of  Alstarnah :  then,  one  by  one,  all  the  rest 
of  the  people  sank  down  and  were  buried 
by  the  soft,  white  snow,  until  at  last  not 
one  remained  to  tell  of  the  verdure  that 
once  crowned  the  mountains  where  the 
North  King  still  reigns,  or  of  the  people 
he  slew  with  terrible  arrows  of  snow,  like 
those  he  still  loves  to  throw  in  derision 
upon  any  daring  traveler  that  attempts  to 
invade  his  dominions." 

"And  that  is  the  story  of  the  first  Snow 
Storm." 

"I'll  tell  you  whlat,  Guy,"  commented 


ACEOSS    THE    PLAINS.  201 

George,  "You  won't  tell  stories  about 
facts,  I  know,  but  you  make  up  for  it  when 
you  Lave  fancies  to  deal  with." 

Guy  laughed,  saying,  "  He  supposed 
there  was  no  harm  in  that." 

And  little  Aggie  said,  as  she  bade  him 
good-night,  "  I  guess  you  will  be  forgiven 
even  if  there  is,  Guy.  And  I  am  sure  I 

shall  never  look  at  these  mountains  or  see 

*> 

snow  again  without  thinking  of  your 
story." 

9* 


202  A   BOY'S   TRIP 


CHAPTER    XV. 

FOR  some  time  Aggie  found  no  difficulty 
in  keeping  her  word,  for  the  train  were 
obliged  to  pass  over  a  part  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  many  a  strange  adventure 
they  met  upon  the  way.  Those  that  had 
been  over  the  route  before  said  they  got 
along  remarkably  well,  while  those  to 
whom  the  experience  was  new,  declared 
that  with  the  breaking  down  of  some 
wagons,  the  unloading  of  others,  and  let- 
ting them  and  goods  they  contained  down 
the  precipices  by  ropes,  and  the  accidents 
attendant  upon  such  work,  they  found  the 
journey  anything  but  delightful.  The 
children  enjoyed  this  part  of  the  trip  more 
than  any  other,  for,  with  the  exception  of 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  2Q3 

Guy,  they  had  no  more  work  to  do,  and 
had  much  more  to  interest  and  amuse 
them. 

But  upon  the  whole  they  were  rather 
glad  when  they  got  upon  the  level  ground 
again,  and  especially  so  when  they  neared 
the  shores  of  the  great  Salt  Lake,  and 
passed  by  the  city  that  stands  upon  its 
shores. 

Mr.  Harwood  had  intended  to  visit  it, 
and  spend  three  or  four  days  in  looking 
about  the  city  and  endeavoring  to  learn 
something  about  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  people  that  inhabited  it,  but  several 
of  the  party  were  anxious  to  reach  their 
destination,  and  for  that  and  many  other 
reasons  they  passed  the  dwelling  place  of 
the  Mormons  by.  Although  the  children 
were  greatly  disappointed  at  not  being 
able  to  go  into  the  city,  they  could  not 
help  speaking  and  thinking  with  delight 


204:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

of  the  beautiful  country  they  had  passed 
over  to  reach  it. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Aggie  one  day 
when  they  stopped  to  rest,  "  that  four  sea- 
sons had  wandered  out  of  some  years  and 
lost  themselves  up  among  those  moun- 
tains." 

"  You're  crazy  !"  said  George  contemptu- 
ously." 

"I  think  not,"  said  Guy  kindly,  "but 
what  could  have  put  such  a  queer  idea  as 
that  into  your  head,- Aggie  ?" 

"Why  you  know,"  she  said,  "  the  grass 
was  fresh  and  green  there  as  if  it  was 
spring  time,  and  yet  very  often  while  you 
were  gathering  buttercups  to  make  me  a 
chain,  George  and  Gus  would  be  pelting 
you  with  snow-balls,  while  the  summer 
sun  was  shining  upon  us  all  the  day 
long." 

"  That's  so,"  exclaimed  George, "  I  should 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  205 

never  have  thought  of  it  again.  It's  the 
queerest  place  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,  except 
this  very  great  valley  which  we  are  in 
now.  Papa  says  it  is  over  three  hundred 
miles  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 
Sierra  Nevadas,  yet  although  we  haven't 
been  out  of  sight  of  the,  first  for  more  than 
a  week,  we  shall  see  the  tops  of  the  others 
in  a  few  days,  and  then,  hurrah  !  we've 
only  to  cross  them  and  we  shall  be  in  Cali- 
fornia !  Won't  that  be  glorious  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  shall  be  glad,"  said  Aggie,  "  for 
I  was  beginning  to  think  as  mamma  said 
the  other  day,  '  that  we  never  should  see  a 
house  again.'  And  won't  you  be  glad, 
Guy,  not  to  have  to  get  up  so  early  to 
make  the  fires  in  the  morning,  and  to  work 
so  late  at  night,  often  after  walking  over 
the  hot  sands  all  day  T 

"  I  don't  know/'  said  Guy  rather  sadly, 
"  You  have  all.  been  very  kind  to  me  here, 


206  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

and  though  I  have  often  worked  very  hard, 
I  guess  it  won't  be  all  play  for  me  in  Cali- 
fornia." 

Little  Aggie  often  thought  of  these 
words  of  Guy  in  the  days  that  followed,  as 
they  drew  nearer  and  nearer  their  destina- 
tion, and  each  member  of  the  company 
spoke  of  his  or  her  hopes  or  prospects. 
She  noticed  that  upon  that  Guy,  as  well 
as  his  mother,  was  always  silent,  and  many, 
many  hours  she  sat  in  the  wagon  puzzling 
her  little  head  as  to  what  would  become  of 
their  favorite. 

She  even  spoke  of  it  to  Guy  when  they 
were  alone  together,  but  he  seldom  would 
say  anything  about  it.  He  was  not  like'some 
people  that  find  comfort  in  talking  over  per- 
plexing questions,  and  it  certainly  was  a  very 
perplexing  question  to  him,  how  he  was  to 
support  his  mother  in  the  strange  country 
to  which  he  had  induced  her  to  come,  for 


ACKOSS    THE    PLAINS.  2Q7 

though  young,  Guy  was  too  wise  to  think 
that  gold  lay  all  over  the  land,  and  all  that 
any  one  had  to  do  was  to  stoop  and  pick 
it  up,  though  many  older  than  himself  in 
the  train  still  believed  that  old  fable, 
which  deceived  many  in  the  time  of  Cortez, 
over  two  hundred  years  before. 

But  although  Guy  was  so  uncertain  as 
to  what  his  fate  would  be  in  California,  he 
soon  became  as  anxious  to  reach  it  as  the 
rest,  for  nothing  for  many  weeks  occurred 
to  break  the  monotony  of  their  journey, 
and  the  only  excitement  they  had  at  all 
was  in  looking  out  for  Indians,  which  were 
said  to  be  very  plenty  upon  their  route, 
and  in  being  constantly  pleasurably  disap- 
pointed in  not  coming  upon  any. 

One  day,  indeed,  they  were  greatly  sur- 
prised by  the  descent  of  a  terrific  rain 
storm  upon  them,  for  they  had  never 
dreamed  of  encountering  rain  in  that  ele- 


208  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

vated  region,  where  not  even  a  drop  of  dew 
was  found  in  the  early  morning.  At  the 
time  it  occurred  a  party  from  the  train, 
among  whom  was  Guy,  were  out  hunting. 
They  saw  the  black  clouds  rising  above  the 
mountains,  but  leisurely  continued  their 
way  intent  upon  obtaining  some  game  for 
supper,  when,  suddenly,  a  blast  of  wind 
swept  down  upon  them,  bringing  with  it 
torrents  of  water,  as  if,  as  Guy  afterwards 
said,  another  deluge  had  come  to  sweep 
every  living  thing  from  the  earth's  surface. 
For  a  moment  the  horses  stood  still  as 
if  stunned,  and  their  riders  bent  low  over 
the  saddles,  then,  suddenly  wheeling,  the 
animals  turned  their  heads  away  from  the 
furious  blast,  and  in  that  position  waited 
for  it  to  expend  its  fury.  Neither  whip 
nor  spur  would  induce  them  to  move, 
though  Mr.  Harwood  used  both  freely, 
being  anxious  to  gain  the  camp  and  satisfy 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  209 

Hmself  of  the  safety  of  his  family.  The 
horses  chose  the  best  position,  according  to 
the  instinct  which  had  been  given  them  to 
escape  from  danger,  and  they  maintained  it 
until  the  fury  of  the  storm  was  spent,  and 
then  obediently  carried  their  riders  to  the 
camp,  where  they  found  two  or  three  of 
the  lighter  wagons  blown  over,  and  a 
number  of  articles  scattered  hither  and 
thither.  All  the  people  however  were  safe 
though  greatly  frightened. 


210  A   BOT'S   TRIP 


CHAPTEE   XVI. 

As  George  said,  the  great  rain  storm 
seemed  to  Lave  come  expressly  to  wash  all 
interest  out  of  their  journey,  for  from  that 
day  until  their  arrival  within  sight  of  Car- 
son River,  within  the  Territory  of  Nevada, 
where  a  part  of  the  company  were  to  part 
from  the  main  body,  they  saw  but  little  to 
interest  them.  True  they  had  passed  over 
a  wonderful  country,  but  the  alkali  plains 
seemed  small  in  comparison  to  the  desert, 
over  which  they  had  passed  some  weeks 
before,  and  all  the  grandeur  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountains  could  not  awaken  i 
them  one  iota  of  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  they  had  greeted  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  snow-capped  summits  of  the  Rocky 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  211 

Mountains.  In  fact  they  were  too  weary 
of  their  long  journey  to  look  around  them 
for  enjoyment,  but  rather  looked  forward 
to  it,  when  all  deserts  of  alkali,  of  sand 
and  sage-brush  being  past,  they  might  by 
the  rivers  and  in  the  peaceful  vales  of  Cali- 
fornia find  rest  and  plenty. 

As  I  have  said  before,  all  in  the  company 
but  Guy  and  his  mother  had  something 
to  look  forward  to.  Many  of  the  young 
men  were  going  to  the  placer  diggings 
or  the  deep  mines,  and  spoke  exultantly 
of  the  rich  harvest  they  would  surely  glean. 
Mr.  Graham  had  a  quartz  mill  in  a  very 
fine  situation,  and*  he  was  going  to  take 
charge  of  it,  and  his  sisters  were  to  keep 
house  for  him,  while  Mr.  Frazer  and  Mr. 
Harwood  had  decided  to  purchase  farms 
and  settle  upon  them. 

The  last  night  that  all  in  the  train  were 
to  encamp  together,  a  large  fire  was  built 


212  A   BOY'S  TRIP 

and  all  gathered  around  it  to  talk  over 
their  plans.  Guy  sat  by  Aggie's  side  and 
tried  to  talk  to  her,  but  he  could  not  help 
listening  to  what  was  said,  and  that,  with 
the  knowledge  that  they  were  so  near  Cali- 
fornia— their  journey's  end, — made  him  feel 
so  miserable  that  he  walked  away  from  the 
fire,  and  hid  himself  in  a  dark  place,  and 
cried  as  if  his  heart  would  break. 

.What  was  he  to  do  when  compelled  to 
leave  these  friends  ?  Almost  penniless 
where  was  he  in  that  new,  unsettled 
country  to  find  a  home  for  his  mother. 
For  himself  he  could  provide,  but  what 
should  he  do  for  his  mother  ?  He  had 
heard  that  work,  hard  work,  was  plenty  ; 
but  his  mother  could  not  do  hard  work ;  it 
had  nearly  killed  her  before,  and  doubt- 
less there  were  few  children  to  be  taught. 
What  could  *  he  do  with  her  ?  Where 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  213 

should  he  leave  her,  while  he  went  to  try 
his  fortune  ? 

It  never  entered  his  head  to  ask  any  one 
to  give  her  a  home.  He  felt  under  unpaya- 
ble obligations  already  to  Mr.  Harwood 
for  bringing  them  so  far  upon  their  way, 
and  treating  them  so  kindly,  therefore 
to  ask  him  to  do  more,  he  thought  would 
be  the  greatest  presumption,  so  instead  of 
asking  help  of  any  man,  he  asked  it  of 
God. 

He  was  still  sitting  with  his  head  bowed 
on  his  knees,  and  the  tears  streaming  down 
his  cheeks,  most  earnestly  praying,  when, 
suddenly,  a  flash  from  the  light  of  a  lantern 
passed  over  him,  and  a  voice  exclaimed : 
"  why,  here  you  are,  I  have  been  searching 
for  you  for  ever  so  long." 

It  was  one  of  the  young  men  from  St. 
Louis,  with  whom  Gruy  had  been  on  most 
excellent  terms  ever  since  they  left  W — . 


214:  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  Yes,  it  is  I,"  he  returned,  rather  reluc- 
tantly, for  he  was  ashamed  that  he  should 
have  found  him  crying.  "  What  is  the 
matter,  John  ?"  he  presently  added. 

"  The  matter  !  why,  don't  you  know  we 
are  to  break  up  camp  to-morrow,  and  one 
party  go  one  way  into  California,  and  the 
other  another !  Now,  which  one  are  you 
going  with,  Guy  2" 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  said,  with  difficulty 
repressing  a  sob,  "one  part  of  California 
is  the  same  to  me  as  another.  I  have  no 
friends  there,  and,  oh  dear,  I  very  much 
fear  I  ought  not  to  have  come  at  all." 

"  Oh,  don't  say  that,"  exclaimed  John, 
cheerfully,  "  you  just  come  along  with  me 
and  my  partners,  we  are  going  straight  to 
the  placer  diggings,  and  we'll  take  care  of 
you  until  you-  can  do  for  yourself,  which 
won't  "be  long,  you  may  be  sure ;  I  should'nt 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  215 

wonder  if  you're  as  rich  as  Rothschild  in 
a  few  years." 

Guy's  eyes  sparkled,  but  in  a  moment 
his  countenance  fell,  and  he  faltered  out, — 

"  But  what  is  to  become  of  mother, — I 
could' nt  leave  her  alone  in  a  strange  coun- 
try, her  heart  would  break." 

"  Sure  enough,  I  never  thought  of  her, 
but  something  might  be  done,  she  would'nt 
break  her  heart,  if  she  didn't  starve." 

"  Ah,  but  she  might  do  both  !"  exclaimed 
Guy.  "  Indeed,  I  cannot  leave  her.  We 
must  live  and  strive  together,  John.  I 
thank  you  for  your  offer,  .but  I  can't  leave 
my  mother." 

"  You're  a  nobler  fellow  than  the  Spar- 
tan that  let  the  wolf  gnaw  his  vitals 
rather  than  cry  out,"  replied  the  young 
man,  "  and  though  you  won't  join  us,  Guy, 
I  don't  doubt  but  you'll  find  good  fortune 
somewhere." 


216  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Guy,  and  comforted 
by  the  young  man's  kind  offer,  though  he 
could  not  accept  it,  he  walked  back  to  the 
fire,  where  he  found  only  the  Grahams  and 
the  Harwoods. 

"We  have  been  talking  about  you, 
Guy,"  said  Mr.  Harwood.  "  Mr.  Graham 
says  he  will  give  you  a  place  in  the  mill 
if  you  will  go  with  him." 

"  That  I  will,  sir !"  cried  Guy,  joyfully, 
his  heart  bounding,  then  falling  like  lead 
as  he  added,  "  but  my  mother  ?" 

"I  think  she  will  consent,"  said  Mr. 
Graham. 

"  Oh,  sir,  it  was  not  of  that  I  was  think- 
ing, it  was  of  what  would  become  of  her. 
Oh,  sir,  she  is  poor  and  friendless,  and  I 
could'nt  think  of  leaving  her  alone." 

"  I  say  then,"  said  George,  who  had  ap- 
parently been  engaged  in  building  castles 
in  the  air,  or  anything  e^se  rather  than 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  217 

listening  to  the  conversation,  "  1  say,  now 
that  Guy  isn't  going'  with  Mr.  Graham, 
it's  cold  enough  up  there  to  kill  his  mother, 
make  an  icicle  of  her  before  Christmas, 
you  know  you  said  last  night  it  was." 

"  Is  that  true,  sir?"  asked  Guy,  turning 
to  Mr.  Graham. 

"  Why,  I  can't  say  that  your  mother 
would  be  an  icicle  before  Christmas,"  re- 
turned Mr.  Graham,  laughing,  "  but  it  cer- 
tainly is  far  too  cold  and  stormy  there  for 
a  delicate  woman."  •:>';':.. 

"  Ah,  then^  sir !'  returned  Guy,  very 
sadly,  "I  cannot  go  with  you,  I  cannot 
leave  my  mother." 

"  Hurrah !"  cried  George,  turning  a 
double  somersault  before  the  fire,  and 
nearly  into  it. 

"What's  the  matter ?"* asked  Guy,  in 
astonishment. 

"Why,  it  means,"   said   Mr.   liarwood, 

10 


218  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

"  that  if  you  will  not  leave  your  mother? 
you  must  stay  with  us,  as  she  has  consent- 
ed to  do.  Much  as  I  disliked  to  part  with 
you,  who  have  been  so  invaluable  to  me 
on  the  way,  I  did  not  like  to  ask  you  to 
remain  with  us  while  others  were  ready  to 
offer  you,  in  mines  and  mills,  so  much  bet- 
ter opportunities  of  gaining  money  than 
I  can  upon  my  little  farm.  There,  for 
some  time  at  least,  there  will  be  more  work 
than  money,  I  guess.  So  now,  Guy,  you 
know  your  mother  will,  at  any  rate,  have  a 
home;  Mr.  Graham  will  give  you  much 
higher  wages  than  I  can." 

At  that  point,  Aggie  began  to  cry  bit- 
terly, saying,  "  Guy,  you  inusn't  go  away ! 
who  should  I  have  to  tell  me  stories  ?' 

"  And,  besides,  my  dog  Jack  can't  smoke 
yet,"  interrupted  Gus,  "and  you  promised 
to  teach  him,  and  youVe  got  to  stay  and 
do  it." 


ACROSS  %THE  PLAINS.         219 

"That's  so,"  said  George.  "I  expect  I 
shall  burn  the  house  down  trying  to 
smoke,  if  you  don't.  You  see  I  haven't 
forgotten  how  you  threw  that  flooir  and 
water  on  me  in  the  burning  wagon,  yet, 
and  you  have  to  stay  and  let  me  have 
satisfaction  for  that !" 

"  Yes,  do  stay,"  said  Aggie,  coaxingly. 

"I  intend  to,"  cried  Guy,  bursting  out 
into  a  loud  laugh  to  prevent  himself  from 
crying  with  joy  at  his  good  fortune. 
"  Hasn't  it  nearly  broken  my  heart  to  think 
of  leaving  you,  Aggie,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harwood,  and  all  the  rest?  Indeed,  I 
would  rather  be  with  you  all,  if  you  were 
as  poor  as — as — " 

"  Job's  turkey,"  suggested  George. 

"Well,  yes,  or  as  I  am  myself,  than  be  a 
prince  without  you." 

After  which  burst  of  eloquence  Guy  sat 
down,  bringing  a  scream  of  dismay  from 


220  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

/ 

Aggie,  upon  whom  he  had  inadvertently 
seated  himself. 

"  Now  that  is  all  settled,"  said  Mr.  Har- 
wood,  dismissing  the  matter  in  his  usual 
cool  way,  though  one  could  see  he  was 
much  gratified,  u  we  will  have  prayers." 

He  arose  and  rung  the  large  bell  and  all 
the  company  gathered  around  him,  as  they 
had  often  done  upon  the  plains  and  the 
mountains,  and  listened  to  the  word  of 
God.  Then  he  spoke  to  them  of  what  had 
passed,  and  gave  his  best  wishes  to  each. 
All  were  much  affected  at  his  kindly 
words,  and  by  the  short  prayer  that  fol- 
lowed. There  were  few  dry  eyes  there  as 
those  that  were  to  leave  on  the  morrow 
bade  farewell,  and  it  was  with  deep  grief 
Guy  parted  with  his  many  friends. 

At  daybreak  next  morning  the  final 
separation  took  place,  a  long  train  of  wag- 
gons diverged  to  another  path,  leaving  the 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  221 

families  of  Mr.  Frazer  and  Mr.  Harwood 
to  take  their  way  alone  into  California. 


222  A   BOY'S   TRIP 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A  MONTH  later  they  were  there,  and  not 
only  there  but  settled  upon  fine  farms 
adjoining  each  other.  To  be  sure  they  had 
but  very  small  dwellings  to  live  in,  but  all 
were  too  much  pleased  with  the  green 
meadows,  sloping  down  to  the  river's  edge, 
and  the  beautiful  forests  that  crowned  the 
hills  that  lay  in  the  background,  to  fret 
because  the  walls  of  their  house  were  made 
of  sun-dried  mud  instead  of  stone.  They 
found  too  many  things  to  be  thankful  for, 
to  find  time  to  complain  of  any,  and 
although  all  things  were  very  rough,  and 
Mrs.  Harwood  and  Mrs.  Loring  wondered 
a  hundred  times  a  day  "  what  they  should 
do/'  they  finally  decided,  when  everything 


ACROSS   THE    PLAINS.  223 

in  the  little  house  was  arranged  to  their 
satisfaction,  that  they  should  do  very  well 
indeed. 

"Yes,  very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Loring,  for 
although  she  called  herself  a  servant,  and 
was  paid  as  such,  she  did  not  feel  degraded 
by  it,  for  she  knew  she  was  earning  an 
honest  living,  and  was  respected  as  a  friend 
by  her  employers,  while  Guy  was  looked 
upon  almost  as  a  son.  He  took  the  same 
place  with  the  children  as  that  held  in 
their  trip  across  the  plains.  He  worked  for 
their  father,  and  for  them,  and  very  hard 
too,  sometimes,  but  he  was  still  their  play- 
fellow, George's  guide,  Gus'  friend,  little 
Aggie's  comforter,  and  singer  of  songs,  and 
teller  of  stories  to  all.  As  I  have  said,  he 
worked  hard,  for  even  with  a  kind,  indul- 
gent master,  like  Mr.  Harwood,  much  is 
thrown  upon  the  hands  of  a  willing  boy, 
so  Guy  found  there  was  still  fires  to  light 


224  A   BOY'S    TRIP 

in  the  morning,  water  to  fetch,  wood  to 
chop  and  carr.y,  cows  to  milk,  and  the 
plough  to  be  followed. 

Sometimes  he  grew  tired  of  the  dull 
routine,  and  would  wish  himself  at  the 
diggings  with  the  young  men  from  St. 
Louis,  and  then  with  Mr.  Graham,  at  the 
mill,  but  a  glance  at  his  mother,  working 
over  the  hot  stove,  or  washing  at  the 
spring,  would  render  him  content,  for  he 
would  say,  "  She  is  happy  with  all  her  toil, 
while  I  am  near,  and  shall  I  worry  over  a 
little  extra  work,  when  it  keeps  me  with 
her?"  And  then  away  to  his  work  he 
would  go  with  renewed  energy,  and  some- 
times Mr.  Harwood  would  give  him  a 
holiday  which  would  quite  revive  his 
drooping  spirits,  and  make  him  strong  for 
weeks. 

Oh,  what  holidays  these  were  !  Off  all 
the  children  would  go  to  the  woods,  that 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  '  925 

in  the  afternoon  were  full  of  sunshine,  so 
warm,  so  beautiful ;  the  grass  would  look 
like  shaded  velvet  beneath  them,  and  the 
leaves  would  glance  and  quiver  as  if  they 
were  fairies  frolicking  in  their  best  clothes. 
And  such  woods  as  these  were,  in  which  to 
gather  wild  plums  and  nuts,  and  then  to 
lie  in  the  shade  and  tell  fairy  stories. 
"The  very  trees  seem  to  say  them  over  to 
us,"  said  Aggie,  the  first  day  they  spent  yi 
the  woods  together.  "  I  am  sure  tliere 

o 

must  be  something  in  all  these  sweet 
sounds  we  hear." 

"Birds'  songs,"  said  George,  contempt- 
uously. 

"  No,"  said  Aggie,  "  something  more. 
Tell  us  what  it  is,  Guy,  you  can  always 
tell  what  the  birds  and  animals  say,  you 
even  told  us  what  the  prairie  dogs  said, 
you  know." 

Guy  threw  himself  down  on  the  green 
10* 


926  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

grass  beside  a  little  brook,  and  listened, 
with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  yellow  sands  of 
the  little  stream. 

"  The  birds  are  telling  me  that  there  is 
gold  in  that  sand,"  he  said  at  length, 
"  they  tell  me  there  is  gold  throughout  all 
this  wonderful  country,  in  every  rock  and 
chasm,  and  there  is  one  big  fellow  that  is 
telling  me  how  it  all  came  there.  "  Shall 
I  repeat  it  over  to  you  T 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes !"  cried  Aggie,  in  great 
glee. 

"  And  let  us  have  no  more  preliminary 
fibs,"  said  George,  "you  are  the  greatest 
fellow  for  them,  you  know,  Guy." 

"  Oh,  p'shaw !"  ejaculated  Gus,  impa- 
tient, "  Let  him  go  ahead  !" 

"That's  just  what  the  birds  say,"  re- 
plied Guy,  throwing  himself  back  on  the 
grass,  and  smiling  gravely.  "  That  big 
fellow' on  the  bough  there  tells  me  he  is 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  227 

delighted ;  that  he  has  at  last  found  one 
that  can  understand  his  language,  for  he 
has  heard  so  many  ridiculous  theories  ad- 
vanced by  men  with  picks  on  their  shoul- 
ders and  books  in  their  hands,  as  to  what 
gold  is,  and  how  it  came  on  the  ground, 
that  he  has  nearly  burst  his  throat  in  try- 
ing to  make  them  understand  the  truth, 
and  has  then  been  accused  of  making  a 
'  senseless  chatter.' r 

"  And  all  the  time,"  says  he,  "  their 
chatter  was  far  more  senseless  than  mine, 
and  so  they  would  think  if  they  had  heard 
all  of  us  laugh  over  their  ^conjectures 
about  a  matter  we  knew  all  about,  for 
birds  have  legends  as  well  as  men,  and 
there's  none  better  remembered  than  that 
of  the  '  Enchanted  Yellow  Men/  . 

BANCROFT 

"  Thousands  of  years  ago  they  inhabit- 
ed the  finest  portions  of  this  land.  They 
hunted  the  deer  on  a  hundred  hills,  and 


228  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

bathed  in  all  the  streams  of  the  moun- 
tains. Their  tents  were  in  every  valley, 
and  the  tracks  of  their  feet  on  every  path. 
They  were  the  most  numerous  and  power- 
ful people  on  all  the  earth,  yet  none  could 
tell  why  they  were  feared,  for  they  had 
never  battled  with  their  neighbors,  or 
shown  great  courage  in  the  chase.  In 
reality,  it  was  their  color  alone  that  in- 
spired awe.  They  were  of  the  hue  of 
the  sun  at  midday,  and  their  long  hair 
streamed  upon  the  wind  like  the  dead 
leaves  of  corn  in  autumn.  From  toe  to 
crown  they  were  pure,  bright  yellow, — as 
yellow  as  the  buttercups  in  yonder  field. 
"  Ever  were  they  looked  upon  with  awe 
by  their  tawny  brethren,  who  thought 
that  the  great  Spirit  had  set  the  seal  of 
his  special  love  upon  them,  and  had  sent 
them  forth  as  his  chosen  people.  The 
yellow  men  believed  the  same,  for  every- 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  229 

V* 

thing  they  undertook. prospered.  None  of 
the  surrounding  tribes  ever  showed  oppo- 
sition to  them.  They  could  follow  the  game 
over  any  ground,  and  spear  the  fish  in  any 
stream  they  chose,  so  that  hunger  never 
entered  their  wigwams ;  and  in  course  of 
time  they  became  so  puffed  up  with  their 
good  fortune  that  they  called  themselves 
'gods/  and  the  neighboring  tribes  bowed 
and  worshipped  them. 

"  Then  the  Great  Spirit,  who,  from  his 
home  in  the  great  mountains,  had  been 
watching  their  doings,  grew  very  angry 
and  threatened  to  destroy  them  all.  But 
they  were  so  beautiful  to  look  upon,  that  he 
decided  to  tiy  them  once  more  and  see  if 
any  good  remained  in  them.  Shortly  after 
this  a  mighty  tribe  on  the  west  of  the 
yellow  men,  crossed  over  to  the  east, 
and  took  from  a  small,  weak  tribe  that 
dwelt  there  all  their  lands,  and  drove  them 


230  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

jt 

up  to  the  barren  mountains,  where  they 
could  not  find  even  so  much  as  a  herb  to  eat. 
"But  they  were  very  near  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  he  heard  all  their  woes,  and  he 
sent  a  messenger  down  to  the  yellow  men 
bidding  them  arise,  slay  the  invaders  and 
restore  the  destitute  to  their  homes  again. 
But  they  would  not,  and  all  those  upon 
the  mountains  died,  and  their  curses  came 
down,  and  rested  upon  the  rich  and  pow- 
erful who  had  refused  to  help  them,  and 
upon  the  day  that  the  laSt  of  the  wan- 
derers perished  a  voice  was  heard  in  the 
tents  of  the  yellow  men,  and  it  said,  '  As 
ye  refused  to  leave  your  lands  to  aid  your 
brethren,  ye  shall  rest  in  the  ground  till 
strangers  shall  bear  thee  hence,  and  as  ye 
have  refused -to  toil,  or  bless  in  your  life 
time,  ye  shall  do  both  after  death.  Ye 
shall  buy  food  for  the  poor,  but  yet  shall 
the  curses  of  the  Great  Spirit  follow  ye.' 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  231 

"  And  even  as  they  listened  to  these  ter- 
rible words,  flames  burst  out  of  the 
mountains,  and  rushed  over  the  valleys  and 
and  plains.  As  it  passed  over  them  each  was 
burnt  to  a  shapeless  mass.  In  thousands 
of  places  the  earth  opened  and  they  sank 
into  their  graves.  And  there  the  yellow 
men,  in  their  new  forms,  waited  for 
thousands  of  years,  and  there  many  of 
them  are  waiting  still  for  the  pick  of  the 
miner  to  bring  them  forth  into  their  new 
life,  to  curse  the  wicked  and  improvident, 
and  to  bless  the  poor  and  needy." 

"  There !  there !  the  bird  has  flown 
away !''  said  Aggie. 

"  But  he  has  answered  the  question  that 
has  been  puzzling  my  head  for  a  long,  long 
time,"  said  Guy.  And  told  us,  too,  that 
none  of  us  should  be  inactive  and  the 
greater  our  power  to  help  others  the  more 
we  should  exercise  it." 


232  A    BOY'S    TRIP 

"  That's  so,"  said  George,  "  and  I  sup- 
pose we  are  all  like  the  'yellow  men,7  a 
good  deal  puffed  up  with  our  own  conceit. 
I'll  tell  you  what,  suppose  we  all  enter 
injbo  a  contract  to  do  all  the  good  we  can, 
and  let  Guy  be  the  judge  of  our  actions,  for 
aftyr  all  he  is  the  one  that  first  put  it  into 
my  head  to  do  any  good,  you  know." 

u  Agreed,"  cried  Aggie,  while  Gus  said, 
"  It  was  a  jolly  good  idea."  But  Guy  de- 
murred about  being  judge,  thinking  with  a 
good  deal  of  shame  that  he.  was  sometimes 
as  inactive  in  a  good  cause  as  the  "  yellow 
men"  themselves. 

So.  they  sat  in  the  woods  talking  the 
matter  over  until  the  last  rays  of  the  sun 
fell  through  the  thick  leaves  and  warned 
them  home.  Then  they  took  their  baskets 
and  turned  their  faces  homeward.  Guy 
saying,  "  Well  then,  we  are  agreed  all  of  us 
to  begin  the  lives  now,  to  which  the 


ACROSS    THE    PLAINS.  233 

"yellow  men"  were  doomed  for  their 
idleness  and  presumption.  Henceforth  we 
are  to  help  the  weak,  oppose  the  proud  and 
wicked,  arid  strive  to  do  good." 

"  I  will  for  one,"  said  George,  earnestly. 

"  So  will  I,"  echoed  Gus. 

"  Arid  so  will  T,  with  all  my  heart !"  ex- 
claimed  little  Aggie,  just  as  they  stepped 
out  of  the  woods  into  the  open  field. 
"  Only  look,"  she  added,  glancing  back, 
"a  bird  has  followed  us  out  of  the  woods. 
I  do  believe  it  is  the  one  that  told  us 
the  pretty  story, — and,  listen,  to  what  he 
is  singing,  '  Good  bye !  why,  I  even  can 
interpret  that,  '  Good  boy !  good  bye  ! 
Guy  Loring !  Guy,  Good  bye !' " 

[THE  END.] 


